US sanctions a ‘trade war’ with Russia

MOSCOW: Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has lashed out at the new United States sanctions on Russia.

He said it was a “full-fledged economic war” on Russia.

Medvedev warned the move would have “consequences”.

“It ends hopes for improving our relations with the new US administration,” he said on his Facebook page.

Taunting the notoriously thinskinned US president, Medvedev added: “The Trump administration has shown its total weakness by handing over executive power to Congress in the most humiliating way”.

Trump signed the legislation behind closed doors and his reluctance was on full display in an angry signing statement in which he called the legislation “significantly flawed”.

“In its haste to pass this legislation, the Congress included a number of clearly unconstitutional provisions,” he said, including curbs on his ability to “negotiate” with Russia.

“I built a truly great company worth many billions of dollars. That is a big part of the reason I was elected. As president, I can make far better deals with foreign countries than Congress,” he said.

The legislation, which also includes measures against North Korea and Iran, targets the Russian energy sector, giving Washington the ability to impose sanctions on companies involved in developing Russian pipelines, and placing curbs on some Russian weapons exporters.

The sanctions seek to penalise the Kremlin for allegedly meddling in last year’s US presidential election and for Russia’s annexation of Crimea. AFP