UPDATE: Moscow working on retaliation against possible US sanctions

(Rewrites story)

MOSCOW, Dec 10 (PRIME) -- Moscow is working on retaliation against possible U.S. sanctions, Dmitry Birichevsky, director of the economic cooperation department of the Foreign Ministry, said on Friday.

"We are working on retaliation with the other agencies, but there is a single principle not to hurt our own economy, not to hurt the producers, to create conditions to retain a framework for constructive cooperation with any, even the most significant political disagreements," Birichevsky said.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a Ukrainian ship heading to the Kerch Strait demonstrates that such provocative activities can have a serious fallout.

"What happened illustrates anew the potential harm and potential danger that these provocative activities carry. I mean any insignificant provocation can lead to very serious consequences," Peskov said.

Late on Thursday, the Federal Security Service reported that the ship of Ukrainian army Donbass was heading towards the Kerch Strait and did not obey orders to change the direction.

End %%mk/jst%%