Russia slams U.S. ‘hysteria’ over Sessions

MOSCOW — A senior lawmaker called it “hysteria.” The Foreign Ministry said it was “media vandalism.” And the Kremlin lamented the “emotional atmosphere” currently in Washington about Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ meetings with a Russian diplomat, saying it could thwart efforts to mend relations.

The uproar is widely seen in Moscow as part of efforts by President Donald Trump’s political foes to block any possible attempts at a rapprochement with Russia.

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters he did not know anything about the meetings last year between Ambassador Sergei Kislyak and Sessions, who at that time was a U.S. senator. Sessions also was a policy adviser to Trump’s campaign.

Peskov argued it was normal for an ambassador to meet with officials and lawmakers, adding that “the more such meetings an ambassador has, the more efficient his work is.”

Asked if the accusations against Sessions smacked of McCarthyism, he answered cautiously that it’s not the Kremlin’s job to make judgments about U.S. domestic policy.

Peskov described the reaction to the news of the Sessions’ meetings as “an emotional atmosphere leading to resistance to the idea of any U.S.-Russia dialogue.”

“The negative effect for the idea to develop at least some dialogue with Russia is evident,” he added.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, was more combative, denouncing what she described as the U.S. “media vandalism.”

“Let me open a military secret for you: It’s part of the diplomatic job to have contacts in the country they are posted to,” she said sarcastically. “It’s their obligation to meet with officials and members of the political establishment.”