Demands for sovereign states to halt economic ties with Moscow have no legal basis, Dmitry Peskov has said

US threats to impose secondary sanctions on Russia's trading partners are illegal and a breach of other nations' sovereign rights, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

Washington recently warned India, China, and Brazil of potential restrictions over their imports of Russian energy. Matthew Whitaker, the US ambassador to NATO, called such measures an "obvious next step" to end the Ukraine conflict.

Responding at a press briefing on Tuesday, Peskov said: "We hear many statements that are essentially threats and attempts to pressure countries into cutting trade relations with Russia."

"We believe that sovereign states should have, and do have, the right to choose their own trade partners, partners for economic cooperation, and to independently determine the forms of cooperation that serve their national interests," he added.

In an interview with Bloomberg on Monday, Whitaker claimed that purchasing Russian oil amounts to sponsoring hostilities in the Ukraine conflict. He asserted that introducing sanctions on importers would cut off Moscow's main source of revenue.

India, one of the largest importers of Russian crude alongside China, responded that it would "safeguard its national interests and economic security," calling the idea of targeting the country over energy purchases "unjustified and unreasonable." New Delhi has also pointed to ongoing Western trade with Russia, despite repeated pledges to sever economic ties.

Beijing likewise defended its economic cooperation with Russia, stating that China will "always ensure its energy supply in ways that serve our national interests."

"China will firmly defend its sovereignty, security, and development interests," the Foreign Ministry said on Monday, adding that "coercion and pressure will not achieve anything."

In July, Brazil condemned similar remarks by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte about potential secondary sanctions on BRICS nations trading with Russia, calling them "totally absurd."

All three countries also highlighted what they described as Western hypocrisy toward importers of Russian energy, noting that both the US and the EU have maintained trade relations with Moscow.

(RT.com)