Washington seeks to impose economic sanctions on Moscow in order to deprive Russia of a strong army and navy, former US Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst said on Friday.

Axar.az reports U.S media.

Speaking to the Ukrainian TV channel "Pryamoi" on 14 December, John Herbst, who served as US Ambassador to Ukraine from 2003 to 2006, explained the main goal of Washington's anti-Russia sanctions:

“We want their (Russian) economy to be weaker because a strong economy supports strong military power. And we do not want a strong aggressive state to have a strong army or a strong navy. Therefore, sanctions certainly serve our interests”, the retired diplomat said.

At the same time, he referred to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) data to add that Russia's GDP "loses more than one percent per year" due to the sanctions.

Moscow described the incident as a clear provocation in violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and promised to suppress any attempts to challenge its territorial integrity and sovereignty.