US imposes new sanctions against Russia, expels ten diplomats & targets national debt in move Moscow may view as major escalation 15
This is all the western media will talk about.
You can see what Reuters has to say HERE
U.S. set to slap new sanctions on Russia as soon as Thursday -sources
The United States will announce sanctions on Russia as soon as Thursday for alleged election interference and malicious cyber activity, targeting several individuals and entities, people familiar the matter said.
The sanctions, in which 30 entities are expected to be blacklisted, will be tied with orders expelling about 10 Russian officials from the United States, one of the people said.
The United States is also expected to announce aggressive new measures targeting the country’s sovereign debt through restrictions on U.S. financial institutions’ ability to trade such debt, according to another source.
The White House, the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Treasury Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The action will add a new chill to the already frosty relations between Washington and Moscow, which has tested the West’s patience with a military build-up near Ukraine.
Biden is an idiot and Washington is in disarray. First, he calls Putin a “murderer”, refuses Putin’s call for talks; then he calls Putin, calls off the warships in the Black Sea; then he slaps on sanctions and then calls for “dialogue and diplomatic process”.
How can anyone negotiate with that?!
This is from RT
Biden calls for de-escalation with Russia after imposing sanctions over baseless charges of hacking and election meddling
Biden told reporters at the White House on Thursday afternoon that he warned Russian President Vladimir Putin of the impending sanctions during their recent phone call, calling it a “proportionate” US response to what Russia allegedly did.
We concluded that they had interfered in the election and the SolarWinds was totally inappropriate.
Russia has denied any interference in the 2020 US presidential election and rejected the accusations it may have been behind the compromise of a platform used by numerous US government agencies, first announced in January.
Biden said the proposed summit with Putin “this summer in Europe” was still being discussed with the Kremlin, and expressed hope the US and Russia could “launch a strategic dialogue” that would help advance his agenda on Iran, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic, among other things. He also expressed hope that Russia will not respond to the US sanctions.
Russia pledges retaliation, summons US envoy over new sanctions, as NATO & EU back Biden’s move to target country’s national debt“Now is the time to de-escalate. The way forward is through thoughtful dialogue and diplomatic process. The US is prepared to move forward constructively with that process,” he told reporters.
Earlier in the day, the US president signed an executive order expelling 10 Russian diplomats, sanctioning more than 30 Russian individuals and organizations, and prohibiting American companies from directly buying shares in Russia’s national debt.
Moscow has responded by summoning US Ambassador John Sullivan for “tough talks.” The Kremlin also said the proposed summit “in a third country in the coming months” wouldn’t be possible to organize on such short notice, and declined to say whether Russia will accept Biden’s invitation to the virtual climate summit scheduled for next week.
Putin WON’T meet Biden in near future, Kremlin says. Moscow not ruling out talks, but disappointed about new sanctions speculation
The move, which the White House says is in response to alleged interference by Moscow in the 2020 US presidential election, will see American companies banned from directly buying shares in Russia’s national debt. The Kremlin has consistently denied that it made any attempt to meddle in the contest, in which Biden defeated former President Donald Trump. Sanctions have also been linked to the colossal SolarWinds cyber-espionage case, which Washington claims Russia was behind.
Earlier this month, the country’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin warned that the US may resort to attacking bonds as part of “a deliberate calculation to create a toxic atmosphere around Russian securities in order to reduce their investment potential.” He added that Moscow was already working to create a battle plan to limit the effect such sanctions would have on the economy.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan defended the move later on Thursday, saying that the package of sanctions comprised “proportionate measures to defend American interests in response to harmful Russia actions including cyber intrusions and election interference.”
Putin WON’T meet Biden in near future, Kremlin says. Moscow not ruling out talks, but disappointed about new sanctions speculationAt the same time, ten of Moscow’s diplomatic representatives in the US have been declared persona non grata and ordered to leave the country. Back in Moscow, before the decision was announced, Alexey Chepa, the deputy chairman of the Russian parliament’s international affairs committee, warned that such a move would lead to a tit-for-tat expulsion from Moscow. “If Russian envoys are expelled,” the MP said, “naturally there will have to be a mirror-image response.”
The announcement came just hours after the Kremlin said that talk of sanctions would hinder the prospects of better bilateral relations. Russian President Vladimir Putin had been invited to participate in a bilateral summit by Biden “in the coming weeks,” but his press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, indicated that it won’t be happening “in the near future.”
“The fact that the sanctions are probably being discussed will in no way help the likelihood of such a meeting taking place – that can be stated unambiguously,” he added.
In March, Washington announced it had imposed sanctions on a number of Russian officials that it claimed were behind the jailing of Western-backed opposition figure Alexey Navalny, as well as for alleged “human rights” abuses during the policing of subsequent protests. A small number of companies and one research institution that US officials intimated were involved in a shadowy chemical weapons program were also targeted.
The Kremlin denies that any such weapons are under development, and insists that Navalny’s arrest was purely an internal matter and a consequence of domestic laws.
The move to restrict purchases of Russian sovereign debt, however, is likely to be viewed as a more significant escalation. Likewise, the expulsion of personnel from Russia’s Washington embassy comes after Moscow recalled its ambassador, Anatoly Antonov, for crisis talks over relations with the country. The diplomat returned home at the same time as a furious row erupted following an interview in which Biden was asked whether he believed Putin was “killer,” and replied, “Mmm hmm, I do.”
The Russian foreign ministry had previously said Antonov would not be returned to his post, and full diplomatic relations would not be restored, until the US is “able to demonstrate a desire to at least relatively stabilize our relationship and they do something visible and noticeable in this regard.”
In the wake of the announcement that Washington would impose new sanctions on Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters that the US ambassador in Moscow, John Sullivan, had been summoned for talks. “We will share with you an update on the results of this conversation, which will be difficult for the American side,” she said.
Russia pledges retaliation, summons US envoy over new sanctions, as NATO & EU back Biden’s move to target country’s national debt
Maria Zakharova, the ministry’s spokeswoman, told reporters that retaliation against the move was “unavoidable,” and that the American ambassador, John Sullivan, had been summoned for “tough talks.” She said, “I would hardly have said this before, but I can say it now: It’s not going to be a pleasant meeting for him.”
Biden signed the decree on Thursday morning, ushering in sanctions against more than 30 Russian individuals and organizations over claims that Moscow meddled in the 2020 US presidential election and was behind the colossal SolarWinds cyber-espionage case that saw hackers gain access to more than 100 corporate networks, as well as nine American government agencies. The Kremlin has denied accusations it was involved in either case.
The new measures include a ban on American financial institutions directly purchasing Russian sovereign debt, which is traditionally used by governments as a way to shore up their economies.
Just weeks ago, the country’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin warned that the US may resort to attacking bonds as part of “a deliberate calculation to create a toxic atmosphere around Russian securities in order to reduce their investment potential.” He revealed that Moscow has already been working to create a battle plan to limit the effect such sanctions would have on the economy.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan defended the move later on Thursday, saying that the package of sanctions comprised “proportionate measures to defend American interests in response to harmful Russia actions including cyber intrusions and election interference.” Ned Price, the State Department spokesman, also tweeted that “we are sending a clear message to Moscow” with the new measures.
However, Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, replied saying that “now it is our turn to ‘hold the US to account’ for promoting unsubstantiated allegations and unfriendly moves. That’s how it works in diplomacy.”
Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia’s State Duma, claimed the measures demonstrated that the “whole arsenal of accusations has been exhausted, and the US is going in a circle.” He added that “by imposing sanctions, they punish themselves. In the end, they will have to build relationships that they themselves have destroyed.”
Responding to the news, the US-led NATO military bloc said that its members “support and express their solidarity” with Washington, and warned that “Russia continues to adhere to a recurring pattern of destabilizing behavior.” The statement concluded that its constituency nations “will continue to work in close consultation on how to respond to Russian actions that pose a threat to Euro-Atlantic security.”
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, added his voice to those backing Biden’s move. “We share the concerns of our partners about the increasing number of malicious cyber activities,” the former Spanish foreign minister said. “All actors must refrain from irresponsible and destabilizing behavior in cyberspace.”
