The Kremlin has promised to respond to the West, in the case of increasing sanctions

Moscow will not leave unanswered the expansion of anti-Russian sanctions against Russia, if the West does take that step, said Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

According to Peskov, the Russian side has already introduced retaliatory restrictive measures against the countries that have imposed it with sanctions, and is now ready to continue this process.

He did not specify what kind of sanctions Russia could impose against the West. Last summer, several options were discussed at once for the next stage of Russian countermeasures, among which was a ban on importing European and American cars into the country.

Earlier, the G7 countries threatened to expand sanctions on Russia. Following their meeting, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced her readiness to introduce new restrictive measures against Moscow in the event of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.

Sanctions against Russia were introduced in several stages by the United States, the European Union and several other countries last year. The reason for the sanctions became the annexation of the Crimea to Russia and military actions in the Donbass.

In response, Russia last August banned the import of a number of food products from countries that have imposed sanctions on it. Russian authorities believe that all the necessary products can be imported from friendly states.