Russia lawmakers moving forward on sanctions that could be a tit-for-tat response to Washington’s actions. Photo courtesy of Gazprom May 17 (UPI) — Legislation enacted Thursday in the Russian parliament is designed to protect the oil-rich economy from “unfriendly” U.S. actions. A bill proposed by State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin passed its second reading on Thursday. The third, and final, reading is scheduled for Tuesday. Volodin’s measure states that countries with an adversarial stance toward Russia could be banned from public contracts. The Kremlin, it adds, could be empowered to restrict trade with the United States. “The purpose of this federal law is the protection of interests and security of Russia, its sovereignty and territorial integrity and rights and freedoms of Russian citizens from unfriendly actions by the United States and other countries, including political and economic sanctions against Russia, Russian citizens or Russian legal entities, and from other […]