Russia will not be intimidated over its actions in Ukraine and Crimea, President Vladimir Putin said Saturday as his Foreign Ministry warned that it was preparing to retaliate against fresh Western sanctions.
Both the European Union and United States adopted tighter restrictions on investments in Crimea this week, while Canada ratcheted up its own sanctions directed at Moscow.
U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday said he would ban exports of goods, technology or services to Ukraine's Crimea region, and called on Russia to end its annexation of the region.
Obama also authorized the Treasury Department to impose sanctions on individuals and companies operating in the region. The department slapped sanctions on 24 Ukrainians and Russians and several companies it determined were contributing to destabilizing Ukraine.
Canada's new sanctions against Russia include additional restrictions on the export of technology used in the oil and gas industry.
Putin has remained defiant in the face of these setbacks, repeatedly defending Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March and its subsequent support for pro-Russian separatists battling Kiev forces in eastern Ukraine.
"Obviously, no one will succeed in intimidating us, to deter, to isolate Russia," Putin said in comments that were shown by state-run Rossia-24 television.
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