The ambassador accused Canada of non-compliance with international law for sanctions

RUSSIA will respond to the new Canadian sanctions that hit journalists and artists, Russian Ambassador to CANADA Oleg Stepanov told RIA Novosti.

“Any so-called sanctions, restrictive measures that do not go through the approval of the UN Security Council are illegal in principle. Everyone knows this very well, but in the West everyone has long forgotten about international law,” Stepanov said.

Earlier today, Canada imposed sanctions against dozens of individuals and legal entities in Russia, including the Rossiya Segodnya media group, Kommersant journalist Andrei Kolesnikov, and pop artists and singers. In particular, hosts Sergei Brilev and Andrey Norkin, as well as singers Oleg Gazmanov, Polina Gagarina and Nikolai Baskov, were included in the register.

In response to being included in the sanctions register, State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein wrote in his TELEGRAM channel: “What a creative and vibrant company I found myself in! Just a song! Dmitry Kiselyov, CEO of the Rossiya Segodnya media group, told RIA Novosti that the sanctions against the media and cultural figures in Russia are “a continuation of the escalation, which will lead to nothing good.”

On January 7, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky imposed sanctions against journalists and artists (including those who fell under Canada's restrictive measures). Ukrainian sanctions imply blocking both personal assets and those that the persons on the list could use through third parties. They will operate for ten years.