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KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday compared being placed on a Russian sanctions list to receiving an award, adding that Moscow should withdraw its troops and weapons from Ukrainian territory instead of saber-rattling.

Moscow has imposed financial sanctions on Ukraine’s political elite, freezing the Russian assets of hundreds of politicians and officials along with dozens of businesses owned by Ukrainian businessmen.

“In Ukraine, being on this list is a kind of state award, at least that’s how it is perceived,” Poroshenko told reporters at a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “Those who did not make it to the list are very offended.”