The authorities of San Marino, Monaco, and Andorra were pressured by the West to impose sanctions against Russia but will bear the consequences of this decision anyways, Alexey Paramonov, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's First European Department, told Sputnik.
"In the current situation, the leadership of San Marino, Monaco, and Andorra succumbed to the information pressure whipped up by the West and imposed sanctions against us. Unfortunately, the leaders of these countries did not show a desire to understand the Russian position, the reasons for today's events in Ukraine, which resulted in a violation of its own constitutional and political-diplomatic principles," the diplomat said.
All responsibility for "the consequences and unseized cooperation opportunities" resulting from anti-Russia sanctions rests entirely with the governments of San Marino, Monaco, and Andorra, he added.
On February 24, Russia began a special military operation in Ukraine, responding to calls for help from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. In response, the United States, the European Union, and their allies have rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow.