Russia: Ties With U.S. Worse Than During Cold War
MOSCOW (Dispatches) -- Russia’s top diplomat has said that relations with the United States are now even worse than during Cold War times because of a lack of mutual respect.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow stands ready to normalize ties with Washington but that the U.S. should stop posturing like a "sovereign” while rallying its allies against Russia and China.
Lavrov said if the U.S. shuns a mutually respectful dialogue on the basis of a balance of interests, "we would live in conditions of a Cold War or worse.”
"During the Cold War, the tensions were flying high, and risky crisis situations often emerged, but there was also a mutual respect,” Lavrov said in a Russian state television interview. "It seems to me there is a deficit of it now.”
Earlier this month, the Biden administration slapped Russia with sanctions for allegedly interfering in the 2020 U.S. presidential election and for alleged involvement in the SolarWind hack of federal agencies — activities Moscow has denied.
The U.S. ordered 10 Russian diplomats expelled, targeted dozens of companies and people and imposed new curbs on Russia’s ability to borrow money.
Russia quickly retaliated by ordering 10 U.S. diplomats to leave, blacklisting eight current and former U.S. officials and tightening requirements for U.S. Embassy operations.
As part of the restrictions, Russia moved to ban the U.S. Embassy and its consulates from hiring Russian citizens and third country nationals. Similar bans would also be applied to other nations designated as "unfriendly.”
Lavrov said that a list of those countries will be published soon to formalize the decision.
The U.S. embassy in Moscow said on Friday it was reducing consular services after Russia restricted the hiring of local staff at foreign missions, the latest setback to strained U.S.-Russia relations.
President Vladimir Putin signed a law last week limiting the number of local staff working at foreign diplomatic missions, and ordered the government to draw up a list of "unfriendly” states that will be subject to the restrictions.
"Effective May 12, U.S. Embassy Moscow will reduce consular services offered to include only emergency U.S. citizen services and a very limited number of age-out and life or death emergency immigrant visas,” the U.S. embassy said in a statement. "Non-immigrant visa processing for non-diplomatic travel will cease.”
Moscow’s ties with Washington have sunk to a post-Cold War low after President Joe Biden said he believed Putin was "a killer”.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow stands ready to normalize ties with Washington but that the U.S. should stop posturing like a "sovereign” while rallying its allies against Russia and China.
Lavrov said if the U.S. shuns a mutually respectful dialogue on the basis of a balance of interests, "we would live in conditions of a Cold War or worse.”
"During the Cold War, the tensions were flying high, and risky crisis situations often emerged, but there was also a mutual respect,” Lavrov said in a Russian state television interview. "It seems to me there is a deficit of it now.”
Earlier this month, the Biden administration slapped Russia with sanctions for allegedly interfering in the 2020 U.S. presidential election and for alleged involvement in the SolarWind hack of federal agencies — activities Moscow has denied.
The U.S. ordered 10 Russian diplomats expelled, targeted dozens of companies and people and imposed new curbs on Russia’s ability to borrow money.
Russia quickly retaliated by ordering 10 U.S. diplomats to leave, blacklisting eight current and former U.S. officials and tightening requirements for U.S. Embassy operations.
As part of the restrictions, Russia moved to ban the U.S. Embassy and its consulates from hiring Russian citizens and third country nationals. Similar bans would also be applied to other nations designated as "unfriendly.”
Lavrov said that a list of those countries will be published soon to formalize the decision.
The U.S. embassy in Moscow said on Friday it was reducing consular services after Russia restricted the hiring of local staff at foreign missions, the latest setback to strained U.S.-Russia relations.
President Vladimir Putin signed a law last week limiting the number of local staff working at foreign diplomatic missions, and ordered the government to draw up a list of "unfriendly” states that will be subject to the restrictions.
"Effective May 12, U.S. Embassy Moscow will reduce consular services offered to include only emergency U.S. citizen services and a very limited number of age-out and life or death emergency immigrant visas,” the U.S. embassy said in a statement. "Non-immigrant visa processing for non-diplomatic travel will cease.”
Moscow’s ties with Washington have sunk to a post-Cold War low after President Joe Biden said he believed Putin was "a killer”.