Malaysia, Vietnam oppose sanctions on Russia: PM

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Malaysia and Vietnam do not support the anti-Russian sanctions and agreed to remain neutral towards the Ukraine crisis, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob told reporters Tuesday following his visit to Hanoi.

"We discussed the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and agreed that Malaysia and Vietnam will remain neutral on this issue," the Bernama news agency quoted him as saying. "As for sanctions against Russia, we do not support them," the official added.

He further underscored that "the sides do not support unilateral sanctions; we recognize restrictions that could be imposed only by the UN Security Council."

The two countries, Yaakob stressed, "do not support such aggression against a sovereign state," in reference to the tide of western sanctions imposed on Russia. He also underscored that the position of Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur was "non-interference."

"We expect a diplomatic resolution of the crisis in Ukraine," the Prime Minister added.

The crisis in question is due to Russia launching a special military operation for several reasons, including NATO's eastward expansion. Other reasons were the Ukrainian shelling of Donbass and the killing of the people of the Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic, in addition to Moscow wanting to "denazify" and demilitarize Ukraine.

In response, the US and its allies have rolled out comprehensive sanctions, including restrictions on the Russian central bank, export control measures, SWIFT cutoff for select banks, and closure of airspace to all Russian flights. Many of their companies have suspended their Russian operations.

The status-quo, however, and the US sanctions on Russia, have weakened US citizens' purchasing power, causing fuel prices to soar in the country with US oil prices reaching their all-time high following a ban on Russian fuel exports.