Russian officials mostly shrugged off the impact of a new round of sanctions announced by the United States on September 1 targeting 37 individuals and companies involved in Russia's aggression in Ukraine.
Companies helping to construct a bridge to Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, were among the biggest new targets, but the officials said they don't expect any impact from the sanctions.
"The sanctions will not affect the construction of the bridge," said the project's Crimea Bridge infocenter, which noted that the bridge is being built without Western help.
"The contractor has all the resources necessary for the timely completion of the project," it said.
Russian Deputy Economic Development Minister Aleksei Likhachev told TASS on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok that the economic loss from the sanctions would be "minimal," although he said Russia "regrets" the "hostile spirit" shown by the sanctions.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the sanctions a "dead-end track" that fails to solve any problems. He suggested that Russia will respond in kind after analyzing them.
"Generally, the principle of reciprocity is used in such cases," he said.
