New Delhi, June 14 -- the sanctions you have placed on Russia are hurting us, too.

That private lobbying campaign was confirmed publicly on Sunday by Marat Berdyev, the Russian Foreign Ministry's Ambassador-at-Large for G20 and APEC Affairs, in an interview with RIA Novosti. A number of major G20 economies, he said, are privately explaining to Washington what they cannot say openly at the summit table - that the sanctions regime against Russia is amplifying economic risks across the entire global system, not just in Moscow.

"As far as we know, a number of major economies are privately explaining to the Americans the harmful effects of the sanctions baton," Berdyev said. "They are convincing Washington that illegal restrictions only exac...