Russian deputy foreign minister says
retaliation over the US sanctions may follow.
MOSCOW, July 26. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov considers the US actions a move towards destruction of prospects for better relations with Russia, he told TASS, commenting on the vote in the US House of Representatives on the bill that tightens unilateral sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea.
"What is happening is beyond common sense," Ryabkov said. "The authors and sponsors of this bill are making a very serious step towards destruction of prospects for normalizing relations with Russia and do not conceal that that’s their target."
"The
reverse side of this coin is a strive to restrict in all areas the
possibilities for the US executive authorities to bolster relations with Russia
and other countries that are ‘targets’ of this bill," Ryabkov added.
The Russian
deputy foreign minister called the result of the vote predicted and expressed
opinion that the sanctions bill would soon be approved by the US Senate.
"Yesterday’s vote in the House of Representatives [of the US Congress] on
the draft law notoriously dubbed ‘Countering America’s Adversaries Through
Sanctions Act’ has brought the result we’ve been expecting: the bill has been
adopted by majority of votes and is now to be studied by the upper chamber of
the Congress - the Senate," he noted. "I believe that the bill will
pass the necessary approval procedure quickly enough and will soon be presented
to the US president."
The US
House of Representatives approved a bill that tightens unilateral US sanctions
against Russia, Iran and North Korea on Tuesday. This document is to be studied
by the Senate, and the upper house of the Congress is expected to adopt this
bill that is widely supported both by the Democratic and the ruling Republican
Parties.
Then the
document, dubbed "Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions
Act" will be presented to US President Donald Trump. The White House has
indicated recently that Trump was ready to sign the bill.
Russia-US dialogue
Moscow,
however, "does not give in to emotions" and continues searching for
ways for constructive dialogue with the US:
"We do
not give in to emotions," the Russian diplomat noted.
"We
will be working to find ways of moving forward and persistently and
continuously searching for a compromise in issues that are important to Russia
and, I think, to the US as well: fight against terrorism and spread of mass
destruction weapons. There are a lot of issues, and we are ready to
cooperate."
Source: ITAR-TASS 26-07-2017
