Russian Foreign Ministry's retaliatory measures taken against the adoption of a bill that toughens anti-Russian sanctions by the US Congress cannot be considered symmetrical and sufficient: this is only the first stage of adequate and tough measures that Russia will take in response to US sanctions, the experts Andrei Baklanov and Mikhail Remizov told the correspondents of Vestnik Kavkaza.
The Russian Foreign Ministry announced retaliatory measures against the United States. In particular, use by the US embassy the property in Serebryany Bor was suspended, and the US should equal the number of diplomatic staff working in the US Embassy to the exact number of Russian diplomats staff members working in the US.
The deputy head of the Council of the Russian Diplomats Association, Andrey Baklanov, specified that Russia's response will be undoubtedly more complicated. "It's not about an adequate or mechanical reaction. We must be sure that the US also feels some inconvenience. Therefore, part of Russia's retaliatory measures will be imposed on the quid pro quo principle, that is, they do something, and we do something in response, and part of the response, perhaps, will be in a completely different sphere, but it will be inconvenient for the US, so they can feel illegality of their steps," the expert said.
According to him, Moscow gave Washington a break so that they managed to disavow their illegal decisions, but it seems that they are not going to do it. "The pause has passed, we are starting to respond, depending on how things go further, additional decisions will be made," the deputy head of the Council of the Russian Diplomats Association stressed.
Baklanov noted that the US Embassy in Moscow has been very sluggish and unprofessional. "Therefore, the crisis of our diplomatic relations has been brewing for a long time. The embassy should try to improve the relations between the two countries, while the US diplomatic mission in Moscow was either neutral or even brought in negative proposals. And I think Moscow's patience has run out. In addition, they were noticed in some issues related to attempts to interfere in internal affairs," the diplomat said.
"American political scientists are already thinking about actions of their political leadership, and believe that in the medium and long term all these events can lead to a deformation of the US's interaction with other countries, which would cause a decline in US authority. And it will be their fault," Andrei Baklanov summed up.
The President of the National Strategy Institute, Mikhail Remizov, explained that the Russian Foreign Ministry's actions can be considered a symmetrical response to the steps of the White House and the State Department at the end of last year. That is, the expulsion of Russian diplomats and the deprivation of Russia's diplomatic property. "It cannot be considered as a response to sanctions, because the new law on sanctions is a much more serious systemic challenge, which means a long-term geo-economic war against Russia," the expert said.
As for the possible reaction of the US authorities, according to the expert, Washington was initially prepared for such measures, since it is a symmetrical reaction to the decisions already made by the US. "Rather, it was a surprise that Moscow delayed its response," the president of the National Strategy Institute said.
The expert said that the main goal pursued by the Russian Foreign Ministry was to send signal that the issue of diplomats and diplomatic capacity cannot be considered as a possible lever of pressure on Moscow. "Therefore, it is just a symmetrical balancing of previously made unfriendly steps. While all real serious issues of bilateral relations should be discussed and resolved without reference to these mutual diplomatic unpleasures," Mikhail Remizov concluded.
