White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed the US readiness to impose new sanctions against Russia over Ukraine. Her words at the briefing convey RIA News…
According to Psaki, the US expressed “concern about threatening rhetoric” from Russia and “about reports of an increase in the number of troops” on the border with Ukraine. She noted that the United States is in contact on this issue with both the Russian and Ukrainian sides, and also stressed that the White House is ready to use sanctions tools against Russia.
Earlier in the day, Jen Psaki said that the United States is always ready to take steps towards imposing sanctions against Russia due to the situation near the border with Ukraine. However, the Americans consider it necessary to discuss such decisions with their European allies, she stressed.
Prior to that, a similar statement was made by US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland. According to her, Washington may impose unprecedented sanctions against Russia if Moscow takes any action aimed at destabilizing the situation in Ukraine. Not only the United States, but all NATO members are ready to support Ukraine, she added.
Later, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pointed out that the use of sanctions against Russia demonstrates Washington’s weakness. According to her, this is evidenced by the use of illegal means of influence in foreign policy and the rejection of legal opportunities.
American political scientist Malek Dudakov in a conversation with Lenta.ru noted that diplomatic relations between the United States and Russia have deteriorated unprecedentedly. “We see a general deterioration in relations between Moscow and Washington on all fronts: from the Middle East to sanctions, Ukraine, Belarus, but there is no one big conflict, a big war,” he stated, calling the situation a cause for concern.
Former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko also made an appeal to Western countries to quickly impose sanctions against Russia. According to him, “the cost of aggression for [президента России Владимира] Putin must become exorbitant and unbearable. ” Prior to that, he also called for the introduction of “hellish” sanctions against Putin and President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko because of the migration crisis at the border of the European Union.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba made the same speech at a meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of foreign ministers of NATO member countries. According to him, the country “is actively working with partners to implement a comprehensive deterrent package”, which should “prevent Russia from using the worst-case scenario.”
In addition, the possibility of imposing sanctions in connection with the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline is being discussed. Thus, the Democrats of the Senate of the US Congress agreed to consider a package of amendments to the country’s draft defense budget for the current fiscal year, which involves the introduction of restrictions on participation in the project. However, Dmitry Polyansky, the first deputy ambassador of Russia to the UN, refused to consider US sanctions a problem, since the gas pipeline has nothing to do with Washington.
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