U.S. sanctions prompt stark Moscow reply
Senior Russian officials and lawmakers on Wednesday attacked new financial sanctions passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, saying they ended hopes for the detente between Moscow and Washington that President Trump promised during his campaign.
The new sanctions, which passed the House Tuesday evening by an overwhelming vote of 419 to 3, targeted key Russian officials in retaliation for Moscow’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election. Iran and North Korea were also targets.
The sanctions’ passage cemented views in Moscow that Trump’s ascendancy to the presidency has provided few deliverables for the Kremlin and that the American president is being held hostage by a foreign policy establishment that seeks conflict with Russia.
The sanctions also may prove to be an inflection point. Even for a relationship characterized by saber-rattling and dire predictions, the Russian response was notably stark.
“Washington is a source of danger,” said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, whose portfolio includes relations with the United States, told a state news agency in an interview. Later, he added: “Essentially, the possibilities for normalization of relations in the foreseeable future are closed.”
Others said that Russia should finally expel several dozen U.S. diplomats, ending a hopeful period in Moscow that Trump would reverse President Obama’s decision late last year to expel 35 diplomats and seize two diplomatic compounds that he said were used to gather signals intelligence.
Both the sanctions bill and the deportations of diplomats were punishment for Russia’s alleged intervention in the 2016 U.S. elections. Russian officials believe (or say they believe) those accusations are just a pretext to undermine the Trump administration.
The sanctions bill passed by the House would force Trump to seek congressional approval to roll back other sanctions against Russia over its 2014 annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.