Kharkiv Mayor Hennadiy Kernes has said that he is not afraid of any sanctions from the U.S. Senate, as he is not planning to leave his city and his country.

"I'm not clinging to any visas, either for the United States or for Europe. I believe that for this goal there are special provisions and regulations of the countries for which I apply for a visa. I'm not planning to leave my native country and my beloved and native city of Kharkiv. I have a family here, people living here, residents of Kharkiv, I'm friends with them, I'm working and having meetings constantly, so I'm not afraid of any sanctions," he told the 112 Ukraine television channel on Tuesday.

He also said that the deputies of opposition factions "should start fulfilling their direct responsibilities." In particular, he said that Svoboda leader Oleh Tiahnybok should return to parliament and "be a proactive legislator, rather than a field commander."

"When they call on the U.S. or Europe to introduce some kind of sanctions, there are special regulations of international law, and if they don't know these regulations and constantly boast of their impunity and are doing what they are doing, I think that there should be certain sanctions against them," Kernes said.

As reported, Batkivschyna faction leader Arseniy Yatseniuk said on January 12 that the Maidan had urged the U.S. Senate to impose sanctions against Ukrainian officials, including Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko, Kharkiv Mayor Kernes and Head of Kharkiv Regional State Administration Mykhailo Dobkin.