Russia may "ban" more US politicians
(Baonghean.vn) - Reuters reported on August 24 that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, in an interview with a Russian magazine published the same day, affirmed that Moscow could ban more American politicians from entering Russian territory. This is part of the response to the new round of US sanctions against the country of birch trees.
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| Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. Photo: Reuters |
According to the plan, the US will impose a new round of sanctions on Russia from August 27, which could prevent Russia from accessing sensitive goods related to US national security control issues.
“We can react symmetrically, asymmetrically, or we can lengthen our list of ‘sanctioned’ politicians,” Deputy Minister Ryabkov told Russia’s International Life magazine.
“It really doesn’t have to be a 100% reciprocal response. We can’t compete with the US economically because we’re in different weight classes,” he said.
The Russian diplomat's comments came a day after US National Security Adviser John Bolton met his Russian counterpart in Geneva, in the highest-level bilateral meeting since Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met in Helsinki, Finland, last month.
Mr. Ryabkov told International Life Magazine that Moscow had not yet received any signals that the United States was ready to normalize relations, and had noted Washington’s efforts to reconsider the interim agreements reached by Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump at last month’s summit.
