Saturday 31 December 2016

Russia's refusal to expel US diplomats act of power that knows it is right ― lawmaker



On December 29, US State Department expelled 35 Russian diplomats and closed two Russian-owned facilities in the states of New York and Maryland.

MOSCOW, December 31. /TASS/. Russia's refusal to reciprocally respond to US expulsion of Russian diplomats may be described as an act by a power that understands its strength and rightness, Frants Klintsevich, first deputy chairman of the Russian Federation Council's Committee on Defense and Security, said.

"It is clear that Russia in this case was also led by pragmatic considerations, leaving a wide room for maneuver for the US President-elect. However, there is more to that. We acted flawlessly from the moral point of view, as a power that understands its strength and rightness," Klintsevich said.


"By expelling Russian diplomats from US under a made-up pretext, the Barack Obama Administration undoubtedly counted on a reciprocal response. However, it is often the best way to respond to such actions by not reacting in any way, thus illuminating their inadequacy," he noted.

On December 29, US State Department expelled 35 Russian diplomats and closed two Russian-owned facilities in the states of New York and Maryland over the hacker attacks at US political institutions that Washington says are linked to Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin decided not to expel US diplomats from Russia in response to the US move.

Source: ITAR-TASS 31-12-2016

Friday 30 December 2016

Kremlin says Russia will adequately respond to ‘aggressive’ US sanctions



Peskov said that such moves are intended to deal a blow to both Russian-US relations and the future administration’s foreign policy.

MOSCOW, December 30. /TASS/. Russia will give an adequate response to the fresh US sanctions that demonstrate the outgoing administration’s unpredictable aggression, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters late Thursday.

On many occasions, Russia has strongly denied any role in the attacks, including leaks of sensitive information that marred the electoral campaign of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. However, the outgoing Obama administration imposed sanctions on Russia’s military intelligence and security officers and expelled 35 Russian diplomats over Moscow’s alleged role.

The Kremlin also hopes that the new US leadership will fix the outcome of Obama team’s "clumsy moves" and bilateral ties will improve when Donald Trump takes office.

"With regard to the transitional period now in Washington we still expect that we would be able to deal with the fallout from such clumsy moves, such clumsy steps, from behaving like a bull in a china shop and that sooner or later, through joint steps, we will take the path of normalizing our bilateral relations," the Kremlin spokesman said.

 

Inconsistency and aggression by demonstrated the White House


"From our point of view, such moves by Washington, by the incumbent US administration are regretfully a display of unpredictable and, arguably, aggressive foreign policy," the presidential spokesman said, adding that such moves are intended to deal a blow to both Russian-US relations and the future administration’s foreign policy.

"Even more perplexing is the fact that the decision on moves with such a devastating and destructive effect on bilateral relations are made by the [Obama] administration whose time in power is about to run out. This, undoubtedly, looks like an absolutely unexpected display of aggression," the Kremlin spokesman said.

He added that the type of aggression that President Vladimir Putin spoke of during his latest question-and-answer session earlier this month.

"Although he did not mention the United States of America among those potential aggressors, he did not pronounce this country’s name, but now we can witness practical manifestation of this," he said.

The Kremlin spokesman said the US side did not contact Moscow before imposing the sanctions, but made public statements that were "unprecedented in their aggressiveness at the current stage of international relations."

When asked whether the Russian leader will contact his US counterpart on the matter, Peskov said he was not aware of such plans. "I don’t think that we need to hurry," he added. 

"As we have already said before, we believe such decisions, such sanctions to be groundless and illegal from the point of view of international law," Peskov said. "We reject such unfounded allegations and accusations against Russia."

Peskov commented on US President Barack Obama’s statements and the US administration’s decision to impose new sanctions on Russia. "We regret that president Obama and the US administration have made such a decision," Peskov noted. According to him, the Kremlin has been assessing these statements. "We are analyzing the details," he added.

 

Blow to Trump’s plans


Moscow believes that by imposing the sanctions in the waning days of his presidency, Obama is trying to disrupt his successor’s plans, Peskov said.

"We are convinced that such decisions by the incumbent administration, which by the way has only three weeks of work remaining, pursue two goals: first is to further spoil the Russian-US relations, which are already at their lowest, and, apparently, to deal a blow to the foreign policy plans of the future administration of the US president-elect," he said.

"However, the second matter is absolutely a domestic one and the Americans will have to sort out themselves how lawful this line of conduct is," the spokesman added. "A model of conduct is being forced on the future [White House] administration and president-elect [Donald Trump]."

Peskov added that he has no information on whether Trump shares the anti-Russian vision of the outgoing administration, because the Russian and US leaders are yet to begin a substantial and serious dialogue.

"What we do know is that there are attempts to impose a certain foreign policy direction on the new administration, to limit its freedom to make decisions and to somehow deprive it of its right to follow the path endorsed by the new president," he said.

 

Adequate response


The spokesman did not say what Russia’s response to sanctions will be, but, due to the principle of reciprocity, it will be "adequate."

"No doubt, the reaction based on the principle of reciprocity and will cause significant discomfort to the US side in the same areas. Anyway, the decision on such moves will be made by the president of Russia," he said.

Peskov said the Russian president would "to a certain extent take into account" the fact that the incumbent administration will resign in three weeks while deciding on Russia’s response.

"With regard to the transitional period now in Washington we still expect that we would be able to deal with the fallout from such clumsy moves, such clumsy steps, from behaving like a bull in a china shop and that sooner or later, through joint steps, we will take the path of normalizing our bilateral relations," he said.

According to Peskov, the Kremlin is "indisposed to exaggerate" the effect of Washington’s move.

 

Diplomatic story


Commenting on the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats from the United States, which the White House claimed came in response to alleged harassment of US diplomats in Moscow, Peskov said he could "only express total bewilderment over the situation." 

He added that he could easily cite several examples of direct pressure on Russian diplomats in the United States.

Earlier outgoing US President Barack Obama accused Russian police and special services of harassing US diplomats in Moscow.

"Our diplomats have experienced an unacceptable level of harassment in Moscow by Russian security services and police over the last year. Such activities have consequences," Obama said.

"All Americans should be alarmed by Russia’s actions," the US President urged, adding that alleged cyberattacks on US political institutions were "directed by the highest levels of the Russian government."

"With regard to the transitional period now in Washington we still expect that we would be able to deal with the fallout from such clumsy moves, such clumsy steps, from behaving like a bull in a china shop and that sooner or later, through joint steps, we will take the path of normalizing our bilateral relations," he said.

According to Peskov, the Kremlin is "indisposed to exaggerate" the effect of Washington’s move.

 

Diplomatic story


Commenting on the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats from the United States, which the White House claimed came in response to alleged harassment of US diplomats in Moscow, Peskov said he could "only express total bewilderment over the situation." 

He added that he could easily cite several examples of direct pressure on Russian diplomats in the United States.

Earlier outgoing US President Barack Obama accused Russian police and special services of harassing US diplomats in Moscow.

"Our diplomats have experienced an unacceptable level of harassment in Moscow by Russian security services and police over the last year. Such activities have consequences," Obama said.

"All Americans should be alarmed by Russia’s actions," the US President urged, adding that alleged cyberattacks on US political institutions were "directed by the highest levels of the Russian government."

Source: ITAR-TASS 30-12-2016


Thursday 29 December 2016

Putin’s approval rating hits 2016 record-high of nearly 87 percent — poll



Trust for the Russian leader has reached 62.1%.

MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/. Vladimir Putin’s trust among Russians continues to surge, as the public’s approval rating of his performance soared to a record-high this year of 86.8%, a poll conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center showed.

According to the survey carried out on December 24-25, trust for the Russian leader has reached 62.1%, compared with 59.2% on December 10-11. The trust indicator for Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu also grew from 11.5% on December 17-18 to 14% last week. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is also among Russia’s top three popular politicians with a trust rating of 13.8%.

Over the past week, Putin’s approval rating had also moved up from 85.8% to 86.8%. "This is the maximum level in 2016," the pollster said.

As for Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s approval rating, 61.2% of Russians gave his performance a big thumbs up, while the government’s surged to 63.2% compared with 60.9% on December 17-18, according to the survey.

The approval rating of the ruling United Russia party reached 48%.

The poll was carried out on December 24-25, 2016 in 130 populated areas in 46 Russian regions with 1,600 participants. The statistical error does not exceed 3.5%.
 

Source: ITAR-TASS 29-12-2016

Wednesday 28 December 2016

Diplomat says humanitarian blockade of east Ukraine will only cause more tensions



An idea to impose a humanitarian blockade on Donbass contradicts the Minsk reconciliation plan, Russia’s OSCE envoy said.

VIENNA, December 28. /TASS/. An idea to impose a blockade on self-proclaimed Ukrainian republics contradicts the Minsk reconciliation plan and will only cause further escalation of tensions, Russia’s OSCE envoy said.

"The idea to impose a humanitarian blockade on Donbass contradicts the essence of the Minsk Package of measures. A humanitarian blockade attempt is fraught with escalation of conflict and new tensions along the line of contact," Russia’s OSCE envoy Alexander Lukashevich said.

"Kiev’s political sponsors need to exert their influence on the Ukrainian government as soon as possible in order to prevent the blockade and deterioration of the situation," he said, adding that the idea "shows that the radicals do not see eastern Ukrainians as their compatriots."

According to media reports a number of ex-members of the so-called volunteer battalions, previously involved in the Kiev government’s punitive operation in the east, announced a "total blockade of the occupied territories" Monday. Commenting on the announcement, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council Alexander Turchinov said the decision can be made by the president alone and ruled out any "improvised cordons" in the area.

The self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk have been under a de-facto blockade since November 15, 2014, when President Pyotr Poroshenko signed a decree to freeze social payments and banking services in the zone of conflicts. Leaders of the self-proclaimed republics described the move as "an act of genocide." In 2015, the Kiev government prohibited deliveries of all goods to areas outside its control.
 
Source: ITAR-TASS 28-12-2016