Kremlin:

US Sanctions Unpredictability Forces Russia to ‘Be Constantly on Guard’

TEHRAN (defapress)- Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Washington’s unpredictability regarding anti-Russian sanctions forces Moscow to ‘be constantly on guard'.

News ID: 68396

Date: 01 February 2018 - 20:36

"To our deep regret, we have to deal with quite an unpredictable partner: the US can do it [make a decision on new sanctions] both today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and, unfortunately, the decisions made are of quite unpredictable nature," the Kremlin Spokesman said, responding to a reporter’s question about Russia’s readiness for any negative outcome, should the United States broaden anti-Russian sanctions, including a ban on the purchase of Russian government bonds by investors, TASS reported.

Peskov said on Wednesday that Washington is proving itself as an "unpredictable vis-a-vis" when making contradictory remarks on the links between the 'Kremlin List' and anti-Russian sanctions.

"Unfortunately, we are dealing with unpredictable partners, and certainly, amid this unpredictability we need to be concentrated and act in line with the understanding of what we want," Peskov added, explaining that Russia needs to do what "meets its own interests", TASS reported.

In comments to the US media reports that the document’s text had been changed at the very last moment, Peskov stressed that it was not a matter of Russia to guess about this.

He also recalled Russian President Vladimir Putin’s remark that this list was an "unfriendly and hostile act" towards Russia.

Peskov believes that "thaw prospects expectations" are utterly out of place in the current context of Russian-US relations.

He also noted that Moscow is not seeing the perspectives for the thaw in bilateral ties with Washington, answering the question on US President Donald Trump's address in the Congress.

"Regrettably, such terms as ‘thaw’ or ‘thaw prospects’ are in total disagreement with the current background of Russian-US relations," he underlined, when asked if it was possible to say in the wake of the US President’s annual address at a joint meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives one can expect some thaw in relations between Moscow and Washington.

Trump in Congress, said that China and Russia are defying the interests, economy, and values of the United States, urging Congress to stop reducing the military budget and said about the need to modernize the country's nuclear arsenal.

The US Treasury on Monday published a declassified part of the so-called "Kremlin report", which includes the majority of the Russian government, including Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the heads of state corporations and state banks, as well as businesspeople with a fortune of up to $1 billion.

The list, which has 210 names, is divided into several sections - the presidential administration, the cabinet of ministers, as well as "political leaders" and "oligarchs", while the Treasury Department stressed that this is not a sanctions list and no restrictions are being slapped on those mentioned in the document.