S-400 surface-to-air missile systems. S-400 surface-to-air missile systems on streets of St. Petersburg, during preparation of Victory Day parade at Palace Square. Russia, St. Petersburg, on May 5, 2016. (Xinhua/SIPA)
MOSCOW, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Russia will hedge against the risks in the defense industry market caused by unfair competition of the United States, the Kremlin said Wednesday.
"Certainly, we are trying to hedge against the risks arising amid manifestations of unfair U.S. competition on the market of military and technical cooperation as well as trade in special hardware on an international scale," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, commenting on Washington's claims that Russian defense sector seriously suffered from U.S. sanctions.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Wednesday that Russia might lose contracts worth more than three billion U.S. dollars as many countries stopped buying Russian products as a result of U.S. extension of anti-Russian sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) signed into law in August 2017.
According to Nauert, the U.S. has warned against signing contracts with Russian enterprises in the military industry and threatened to impose sanctions against countries, persons and organizations that violate the law.
Russia is aware that the U.S. deliberately hampered Russia's military and technical cooperation with other countries, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Wednesday.
Noting that everything is under control, Peskov refrained from revealing details as "military-technical cooperation is a very sensitive area."