This exchange of punitive measures comes at a time when relations between the two rival powers continue to deteriorate in the face of Washington’s allegations. Russian interference in US presidential elections And a Growing tense situation in eastern Ukraine.
Washington announced a new series of sanctions against Russia on Thursday, which will include Expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats and ban on American banks from buying Russian government bonds until 14 June.
Moscow’s response was swift and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday announced the expulsion of 10 US diplomats.
The head of the United States Federal Prison Agency and two former senior government officials will also be banned from entering Russia. Donald TrumpFormer National Security Advisor and former Director of the CIA.
America announced economic sanctions against Russia
In addition, Lavrov said he “recommends” US Ambassador to Moscow John Sullivan to return to Washington for “serious and thorough consultation”.
“We have not received any official diplomatic correspondence with details of the Russian government’s decisions against American diplomats in Russia,” Sullivan said in a statement released on Friday.
Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov had already been called for consultation in mid-March, with US President Joe Biden calling Putin a “killer”.
Moscow also announced the expulsion of five Polish diplomats on Friday and indicated that it reserved “some painful measures” for American companies.
Kremlin arrives at White House
Visitors take photos on March 27 at Earth Hour 2021 outside the Cathedral of the Kremlin and St. Basil at the Red Square in Moscow of lights – Photo: Pavel Golovkin / AP Photo
Although the Kremlin considered the US sanctions “unacceptable”, it considered Biden’s call to be “positive” for “de-escalation”.
President Putin said [em primeiro lugar] Need for normalization and de-escalation of relationships […], It is therefore positive that the views of the two heads of state coincide “, announced by Russian President’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, who also emphasized that the two countries disagreed in many aspects.
Since coming to power, Biden has vowed to be much stricter with Moscow than his predecessor, Donald Trump, accused of decency with Putin.
On the other hand, the White House tenant proposed the summit to his Russian counterpart “in a third country” and “in the coming months”.
“It’s time for de-escalation,” Biden said on Thursday.
The idea of a meeting was well received in Moscow, although Peskov claimed that Putin first proposed a deep dialogue in March, referring to a public and live online conversation, while Biden called on the Russian president. Was called a “murderer”. The White House ignored the proposal.
Finland has offered to host a possible summit between Biden and Putin, the Finnish Presidency announced on Friday. The Nordic country has already held a summit between Trump and Putin in 2018.
Relations between Russia and the United States
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalate after military exercises
Relations between Russia and the United States have deteriorated significantly since 2014, when Moscow occupied the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
The Washington sanctions announced on Friday are a retaliation for the 2020 cyber attack, formally attributed to Russia, using SolarWinds, an American publisher of computer programs that many US federal agencies use as a vector I used to impress.
Accused directly by Washington, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service said the allegations were “illusions”.
Disagreements between Russia and the United States also occur amid rising Russian-Ukrainian tensions.
Ukraine demanded a reason for Russia to invade the country, and Russia accused Ukraine of making an aggressive preparations against pro-Russia separatists from Donbas (eastern Ukraine).
Leaders of Ukraine, Germany and France on Friday asked Moscow to withdraw their troops from the Russian-Ukrainian border.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed a summit with Russia, France and Germany at the end of the meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
