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DUSHANBE, Sept 12 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin saidon Friday new Western sanctions against Russia were intended todisrupt peace efforts in eastern Ukraine and that Moscow wasconsidering retaliatory measures.
Speaking to journalists after a meeting of the ShanghaiCooperation Organisation security bloc, Putin said the sanctionslooked "a bit strange" in view of the peace drive including aceasefire.
"When the situation is moving towards a peaceful resolution,steps are taken which are aimed at disrupting of the peaceprocess," said Putin in Dushanbe, capital of the former Sovietrepublic of Tajikistan in Central Asia.
"We've long been convinced that sanctions as an instrumentof foreign policy are inefficient and practically never bringabout their desired result - even in relation to smallcountries. Of course a policy of sanctions inflicts certaindamage, including to those who use them."
The European Union and the United States have tightenedsanctions on Russia because of its role in the conflict inUkraine, where Ukrainian forces face a rebellion by pro-Russianseparatists in eastern regions.
NATO says it has overwhelming evidence that Russia has sentsoldiers and arms to support the rebels, a charge which Moscowdenies. Russia accuses the United States of fomenting theprotests that ousted a president sympathetic to Russia and ofusing events in Ukraine to "contain" Russia. (Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya and Alexei Anishchuk, Writingby Thomas Grove, Editing by Timothy Heritage)