Novichok attack: Russian Federation denounces ‘draconian’ new U.S. sanctions
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharaova denied Russian involvement in the Skripal poisoning on Thursday and said Moscow is working on unspecified “retaliatory measures” against the United States.
Military forces work on a van in Winterslow, England, on March 12, 2018, as investigations continue into the nerve-agent poisoning of Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. Authorities say they have linked the two batches of the deadly nerve agent.
Turkey’s lira, Britain’s pound and now Russia’s rouble are all in play this week with outsize losses in each due to domestic policy concerns and worldwide trade and diplomatic relations.
Russian officials question why Russia would want to attack an ageing turncoat who was pardoned and swapped in a Kremlin-approved 2010 spy swap.
How did the U.S. respond?
The Russian ruble plummeted to its lowest level against the dollar since 2016 on Thursday as Washington prepares to penalize Moscow for a chemical attack in the United Kingdom earlier this year. “At times, the number of those who want to ditch the rouble is becoming so high, so there is not enough liquidity”. We are all one administration, and we’re all on the same page here …
Ms Zakharova said the United States was “knowingly presenting demands that are unacceptable to us” as conditions for the sanctions to be lifted.
The punishments will get harsher in three months’ time if Russian Federation doesn’t follow the USA’s demands on the use of chemical weapons.
When asked Thursday about the possibility of a ban on Aeroflot, Peskov labelled the USA administration an “unpredictable participant in global affairs”, adding “you can now expect anything”. Many exports and imports may also be cut off.
Three weeks after Trump’s widely panned meeting with Putin in Helsinki, the direction of the relationship remains shrouded in confusion.
Not quite pally but it appears they are trying to foster warmer relations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with spokesman Dmitry Peskov, center, and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in Sochi on May 18.
Is there another motive behind the sanctions? Draft US legislation last week proposed widening the restrictions.
Analysts in Moscow said it was highly unlikely that Putin would allow inspectors to enter the country to head off the additional sanctions, since doing so would look like succumbing to US pressure.
Affected by the new sanctions are sensitive national security-controlled goods. Rand Paul hand-delivered a letter from Mr. Trump to Putin, asking for “expanding dialogue”. “Such a message might not go down well in Moscow”, Prof Cullinane added.
Last week, a group of Democrat and Republican senators introduced a bill that would impose some of the toughest sanctions ever placed on modern Russian Federation.
“We have grown accustomed to not hearing any facts or evidence”, an embassy statement said. He said the new sanctions amount to “inflicting a punishment in the absence of a crime, in the tradition of lynch law”. We suggested publishing our correspondence on this issue.
A Downing Street spokesman said: ‘The UK welcomes this further action by our U.S. allies.