US sanctions would make Ukraine peace deal harder: Russia

MOSCOW, Sept 17: The Kremlin said on Thursday that further US sanctions against Russia would make it harder to reach a peace deal in Ukraine.

"We are, of course, monitoring the progress of this document. It falls under the category of unfriendly actions, and of course the imposition of any additional sanctions by the US would certainly complicate efforts to find a peace settlement in Ukraine," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

US-mediated efforts to end the 4-1/2-year Ukraine war have been stalled for months. The US sanctions bill targets Russia's energy and defence industries, as well as its "shadow fleet" of tankers that evade existing sanctions, in order to deprive Moscow of revenues to finance the war with Ukraine.�" REUTERS