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Russia is "disappointed" at Norway's decision to suspend programs for bilateral military cooperation, part of the sanction measures Norway imposed following Russia's annexation of Crimea, the Norwegian news agency NTB reported on Monday.
"We are disappointed (at) Norway's attitude," the report quoted Petr Svirin, press secretary of the Russian Embassy to Norway, as saying.
Otherwise, "for us, everything is as before and nothing has changed and we are open and ready to work as before," he added.
This is the first time that Russia made reaction to Norway's decision to follow the suit of the European Union in sanctioning Russia.
When announcing sanctions on Russia last week, Norwegian Foreign Minister Boerge Brende said Norway would work to avoid a come-back of the cold war between the East and the West.
Apart from canceling military cooperation programs, Norway has also banned some key Russian politicians and officials from entering Norway in addition to freezing their assets in Norway.
A free trade agreement talk with Russia in the auspices of the EFTA has been called off while a high-level environmental meeting between Norway and Russia in Moscow has been put on hold indefinitely.
The EFTA, a trade bloc comprising Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, was expected to conclude the FTA negotiations in the first half of 2014 with the Customs Union consisting of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
