The United States announced tough sanctions against Russia | Bi…

The tension between the United States and Russia added a new chapter today after the White House imposed new financial sanctions on Russia and expelled ten of its diplomats accused of cyber attacks and meddling in presidential elections, a decision that Moscow immediately rejected and for which it called on the American ambassador to give an “energetic response”.

The new sanctions and the expulsion of diplomats surprised, because barely a day ago the Secretary of State Antony blink announced a possible meeting between the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and its Russian counterpart, Vladimir Poutine, in the coming weeks, precisely to unblock the moment of tension that dominates the bilateral relationship and after a new phone call between the two leaders.

“What is currently being discussed will not in any way promote a meeting,” said the spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov. A White House official who spoke to international media on condition of anonymity today endorsed the need for such a meeting.

“We believe it will be essential that in the coming months the two leaders sit down to talk about the wide range of issues that our relationship must address,” the source said, quoted by news agencies such as the AFP and Sputnik.

But the Kremlin has already warned that US sanctions could further cloud the relationship and, therefore, the chances of such a meeting. “What is currently being discussed will in no way favor such a meeting,” said spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov.

The decree signed Thursday by Biden extended restrictions on U.S. banks negotiating debt issued by the Russian government, expelled 10 diplomats, some of whom were accused of espionage, and sanctioned 32 people accused of meddling in the 2020 election., as reported by the White House.

It will also allow Russia to be re-sanctioned with “strategic and economic consequences”, “if it continues or promotes an escalation of its international destabilization actions,” the White House warned in a statement, which appeared to refer to at the current military and diplomatic escalation on the border with Ukraine, an American ally.

Also, according to the US Treasury statement describing the sanctions and their causes, another of the arguments was “Moscow’s efforts to undermine the conduct of free democratic elections and just and democratic institutions in the United States and its allies. “

Various American institutions have publicly accused the Russian intelligence services of having organized disinformation campaigns during the 2016 and 2020 election campaigns in favor of Donald Trump’s candidacy.

According to the Biden government, the sanctions also respond to “malicious cyber activity against the United States and its allies”, referring to the hacking of a corporate program SolarWinds which affected a dozen government agencies and more than a hundred private companies in early 2021, and which Washington also attributed to Russian spies.

Moscow’s response

The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the US Ambassador to Moscow on Thursday, John J. Sullivan, and assured that Moscow will give an “energetic response” to the new sanctions imposed by Washington.

“This aggressive behavior, no doubt, will face a vigorous rejection, the response to sanctions will be vigorous,” said the portfolio spokesperson, Maria zajarova, during his daily press conference. In the same vein, he explained that the ministry “had summoned the ambassador of the United States” for a “conversation which will be difficult for the American side”.

The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has also spoken out, calling the US accusations “delusions”. “Reading these illusions is of little interest,” SVR said in a statement sent to Russian news agency Sputnik.

As uncertainty grew over what retaliation Russia would take, America’s key allies immediately stepped forward in support of it. The British Chancellery not only supported its traditional partner, but also called on the Russian Ambassador for consultations, Andrei kelin. “The British government is deeply concerned about the model of malicious conduct of the Russian state,” argued the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Philippe barton.

What NATO and the EU said

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) stood next to Washington and assured that Moscow was following “a pattern of destabilization” which also included interference Ukraine and Georgia.

The military alliance, created during the Cold War to contain what Western powers saw as the Soviet threat, also accused Russia of promoting the attacks in Afghanistan and the ongoing escalation on the Ukrainian border and on the Ukrainian peninsula. Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014.

The European Union (EU), for its part, also expressed support for the United States, pledged to continue to “investigate malicious cyber activity with a view to sustained action” and defended the bloc’s diplomatic efforts to intercede against growing tension in eastern Ukraine.

However, after Washington announced the new sanctions against Moscow, Biden indicated that “it was time for de-escalation“The American president believed that direct communication with Putin could establish a” more effective relationship “and affirmed that the Russian leader agreed with this thesis.

Biden has indicated that the summit proposed to Putin could take place this summer in Europe, that is, within the next few weeks, Secretary of State Antony Blinken reported at a press conference.

“We would prefer a stable and predictable relationship with Russia, and that requires open lines of communication, which is exactly what they saw yesterday when President Biden picked up the phone to call President Putin and also offered to call President Putin. meet in the next few weeks, “he said Blinken, according to the Sputnik agency.

The US president’s proposal is to meet in a third country to address bilateral issues and try to achieve a stable bond. One of the possible places is Austria, whose government offered on the same day to host the summit between the United States and Russia.

Other possibilities are Czech Republic Yes Finland. Putin has yet to respond, but Biden said the teams are discussing the possibility “right now.”