Anatoly Antonov: Washington’s sanctions benefit firms working for US intelligence

WASHINGTON, USA | TASS | The sanctions on Kaspersky Lab show that the United States is seeking to help its own corporations working for American intelligence, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said, commenting on the US move to blacklist the Russian cybersecurity company’s executives.

“This yet another politicized step by the [US] administration is an attempt to present the situation as if any business activity in Russia is `under the hood of the special services’. To try to scare away businesses from normal mutually beneficial interaction, and consumers from purchasing Kaspersky products,” the Russian Embassy quoted Antonov as saying on its Telegram channel. “In reality, we witness desire to use dishonest methods to strengthen the capabilities of their own corporations. Many of which are not ashamed to admit that for the sake of government contracts they work in close cooperation with American intelligence,” the diplomat added.

According to him, “the leading positions of our company in many countries have long aroused outright envy of the American authorities.” “They don’t want to admit that our specialists can provide more than worthy competition to local programmers. The mentioned company met one barrier by the US officialdom after another since 2017,” he maintained.

Kaspersky Lab dismissed the latest restrictions as unjustified as it said they would not affect its sustainability and pledged to continue its mission. The US authorities announced a full ban on Kaspersky software in the country the day before, citing the alleged threat to data safety as they also imposed export restrictions. Personal sanctions against a number of top managers at Kaspersky Lab were introduced on Friday. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticized the export restrictions as Washington’s “signature move” for unfair competition.

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SOURCE: TASS