MOSCOW (AP) – Russia on Friday responded to a barrage of new US sanctions by saying it would expel ten US diplomats and take other retaliatory measures in a tense clash with Washington.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also released a list of eight current or former U.S. officials who were barred from entering the country, including U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray , National Intelligence Director Avril Haines and National Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said Moscow would move on to shut down those U.S. non-governmental organizations that remain in Russia to end what he described as its meddling in Russian politics.
The top Russian diplomat said the Kremlin suggested that US Ambassador John Sullivan follow the example of his Russian counterpart and head home for consultations. Russia will also deny the US embassy the possibility of hiring staff from Russia and third countries as support staff, limit the visits of US diplomats who make short-term stays at the embassy and tighten the requirements for trip of US diplomats to the country.
The others who have been banned from entering Russia are Susan Rice, a former UN ambassador and now head of the Interior Policy Council; John Bolton, who was a national security adviser to former President Donald Trump; James Woolsey, former CIA director; and Michael Carvajal, director of the Federal Prisons Office.
On Thursday, the Biden administration announced sanctions on Russia for interfering in the 2020 U.S. presidential election and participating in the SolarWind hacking of federal agencies, activities that Moscow has denied. The U.S. ordered the expulsion of ten Russian diplomats, targeted dozens of companies and individuals, and imposed new limits on Russia’s ability to borrow money.
While the United States wields power to paralyze Russia’s economy, Moscow has no leverage to respond in kind, although it could hurt American interests in other ways globally.
Lavrov described Washington’s move as “absolutely unfriendly and unprovoked” and said that while Russia could take “painful measures” against US business interests in Russia, it would not immediately go so far as to do so and “save for future use “.
He warned that if Washington further increases the pressure, Russia may ask the US to reduce the number of its embassies and consular staff from about 450 to 300. He said both countries host about 450 diplomats, but that includes some 150 Russians at the UN in New York who argued it should not be included.
Russia’s economic potential and global reach are limited compared to the Soviet Union that competed with the United States for international influence during the Cold War. Still, Russia’s nuclear arsenal and its leverage in many parts of the world make it a power that Washington must keep in mind.
Aware of this, President Joe Biden called for the reduction of tensions and opened the door to cooperation with Russia in certain areas. Biden said he told Putin in Tuesday’s call that he chose not to impose tougher sanctions for now and proposed meeting in a third country in the summer.
Lavrov said Russia had a “positive attitude” towards the summit’s offer and was analyzing it, but a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry noted shortly after that “it was being studied in the context of the ‘evolution of the situation’.
The ministry accused Russia of wanting to prevent a further escalation and engage in “calm and professional dialogue”, but has other means to retaliate if Washington tries to curb pressure.
Although the new US sanctions further limited Russia’s ability to borrow money by banning US financial institutions from buying Russian government bonds directly from state institutions, they did not target the secondary market.
“It’s very important that there are no sanctions on secondary debt because that means non-Americans can buy the debt and sell it in the U.S.,” said Tom Adshead, research director at Macro-Advisory Ltd , consulting company.
Timothy Frye, a political scientist at Columbia University, noted that Biden chose not to head to the future Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany or go looking for large Russian state-controlled companies.
“This is part of the broader strategy of using sanctions, but also of reaching out to the Kremlin to propose talks on strategic stability and ultimately on a summit,” he said.
Tighter restrictions would also hurt Western companies, cause significant economic pain to ordinary Russians, and allow Putin to muster anti-US sentiments to strengthen his dominance.
The increase in sanctions could end up turning Russia into a corner and provoking even more reckless action by the Kremlin, which would lead to a possible escalation in Ukraine, which experienced an increase in clashes with separatists backed by Russia in the east and a massive accumulation of Russian troops on the border. .
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Paris on Friday to discuss tensions with French President Emmanuel Macron. After a joint call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the three urged Russia to withdraw its troops to ease the situation.
Fyodor Lukyanov, top foreign policy expert at the Moscow Foreign and Defense Policy Council, predicted that Putin would likely accept Biden’s invitation to join next week’s call on climate change, but could drag his feet on the summit offer.
“There is no way to make any deal,” Lukyanov said. “There is a mutual antipathy and a total lack of trust.”
He said the only practical outcome of the summit could be an agreement to start long and difficult talks on a replacement for the new START nuclear reduction agreement that Russia and the United States extended in February for another five years.
Lukyanov noted that growing pressure from the United States will bring Russia and China closer in the long run.
“Closer cooperation with China on coordination actions to contain the United States will develop more quickly, as the Chinese are interested in it,” he said. While Russia has no tools for a symmetrical response to US sanctions, “it has broad capabilities to stimulate changes in the world order,” he added.
Konstantin Kosachev, deputy speaker of the upper house of parliament, connected to the Kremlin, said that by imposing sanctions and proposing a summit at the same time, the US was trying to adopt a commanding stance.
“Russia’s consent would be interpreted as a reflection of its desire to soften sanctions, allowing the United States to secure a dominant position at the meeting, while our refusal to meet would be a convenient pretext for further action. punitive, “Kosachev wrote on Facebook.
He argued that Russia should not rush to accept the offer of the Biden summit.
“Revenge is a dish that is best served cold,” Kosachev wrote. “I think the saying is quite adaptable to a situation where we’re not talking about revenge, but a response due to the aggressive action of an opponent.”
Some predicted that U.S. sanctions could deter Russia from cooperating with the United States in international crises.
“Russia’s position will be tougher on Syria, the Iranian nuclear deal and other issues,” Ivan Timofeev, program director of Russia’s International Affairs Council, said in a comment. Instead of acting as a deterrent, he warned, the sanctions “would only anger Russia and still carry out its policy.”
But despite growing tensions, Russia and the United States have shared interests in many global hotspots. For example, Moscow fears that instability could spread from Afghanistan to the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, and is interested in a political settlement there.
As for Iran, Moscow also does not want to see it with nuclear weapons, despite its friendly ties with Tehran.
Lukyanov said Russia would not try to use global hotspots to hurt the U.S. and would wait patiently to see how they eroded American domination.
“It’s not about playing the spoiler here or there,” he said. “Ongoing developments will help accelerate the process of consolidating the major powers against American domination.”
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Associated Press writers Eric Tucker in Washington and Kostya Manenkov collaborated.