Russia warns of retaliations after US curbs

As a retaliatory measure, Russia may expel American diplomats Hopes of Russia-US detente dashed after allegation of Russian involvement in 2016 election of Trump

Moscow, July 26: Russia warned on Wednesday that new US sanctions against Moscow approved by the House of Representatives take already battered ties into uncharted waters and said that it was close to taking retaliatory measures of its own.

Russia was responding after the US House of Representatives overwhelming ly voted to impose new sanctions on Moscow and to force President Donald Trump to obtain lawmakers’ permission before easing any sanctions on Russia.

Moscow had initially hoped that Trump would work to repair a relationship which has slumped to a post-Cold War low, but has watched with frustration as allegations that Moscow interfered with last year’s US Presidential election have killed off hopes of detente.

On Wednesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Interfax news agency the latest US Sanctions moveleft no room to improve ties between Moscow and Washington inthe near future and took the relationship into uncharted waters.

“This is already having an extremely negative impact on the process of normalising our relations,” Ryabkov told Interfax. US-Russia relations were entering “uncharted territory in a political and diplomatic

US-Russia relations are entering uncharted territory in a political and diplomatic sense

— Sergei Ryabkov, Russia minister ◗

sense,” he added.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier this month that too many American spies operated in Russia under diplomatic cover and that it might expel some of them to retaliate.