Secretary of State Sergey Lavrov also said the Kremlin has advised US Ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, to return to Washington for “detailed” and “serious” consultations. The Russian ambassador to the US returned to Moscow in March after Biden said in a TV interview that he viewed Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “murderer.”
Russia’s State Department released a statement on its website on Friday mentioning Wray and Haines, along with U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, Biden’s domestic policy adviser Susan Rice, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and the director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Justice. Prisons Michael Carvajal.
The statement also mentions John Bolton, former National Security Adviser to former President Donald Trump and former CIA Director Robert James Woolsey, Jr.
“Taking into account the unprecedented nature of the complications Washington was causing in Russian-US relations, it was decided to deviate from the usual practice of not publicly highlighting the countermeasures taken by the Russian side,” the State Department said in a statement. a statement.
The State Department did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment.
Lavrov told reporters Friday that Yury Ushakov, Putin’s assistant on foreign policy, had recommended Sullivan to return to Washington on Friday.
“The situation is quite multi-layered, it needs to be studied in detail,” said Lavrov. Besides, sometimes incomprehensible things happen in Washington. Or at least things that are not entirely clear. That is why Ushakov today recommended Ambassador John Sullivan to go to his capital and have detailed and serious consultations there. ‘
Russia released the list of sanctioned government officials shortly after Lavrov said Russia will expel 10 US diplomats, curb the activities of US nonprofits in the country, and punish US officials in retaliation for Thursday’s punitive action by the Biden administration.
‘Tit for tat’
Lavrov, speaking to his Serbian counterpart at a Moscow press conference, described the measures as a “tit-for-tat response” to Thursday’s announcement of sanctions by the Biden government to punish Moscow for its interference in US elections. 2020, the SolarWinds cyber attack. and the continued occupation and “serious violations of human rights” in Crimea.
Those US sanctions include the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats in Washington, including “representatives of Russian intelligence services,” for the cyber hack and election interference.
“There were ten diplomats on a list that the US had handed to us with the request to ensure that they leave the United States. We will answer that immediately. We will also ask 10 American diplomats to leave our country.” , Lavrov said. said.
“Some time ago, for the package [of sanctions] Recently announced by Biden, the Americans added eight representatives of Russian structures, the Russian leadership, including the presidential administration and the Attorney General’s Office, to the sanctions list, “Lavrov said.” Today we will be publishing a list of eight officials representing the Washington government’s governance structures. They will also be included in our sanctions list. ”
Lavrov said the Kremlin will immediately oppose US nonprofits, saying, “We will limit and end the activities on our territory of US foundations and nongovernmental organizations that actually directly interfere with our domestic political life.”
Russia is also considering more “painful” measures against US companies, Lavrov said, viewing them as a response to US sanctions on Russian sovereign debt, adding that the Kremlin is keeping these steps “in reserve” for the time being.
The Biden government prohibits US financial institutions from participating in the primary market for bonds issued by Russia’s central bank and other leading financial institutions. US financial institutions weren’t big buyers of Russian bonds, but their withdrawal from the market as potential buyers will still have an impact, said Gary Hufbauer, former Treasury Secretary and senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
“For obvious reasons, we don’t have comparable levers of influence on the United States of this magnitude,” Lavrov said Friday, adding that “our experts” believe the Russian economy can handle it. “In any case, we have found a way out and we will get out of every situation. But we also have the opportunity to take painful measures against corporate America. We will keep them in reserve,” Lavrov warned.
Biden said on Thursday that the sanctions against Russia were a proportional response to cyber attacks against the US and interference in two presidential elections, but also stressed that “now is the time to de-escalate tensions with the country.”
Try to avoid escalation
As part of Thursday’s announcement, the US formally named Russia’s foreign intelligence agency as the force behind the SolarWinds hack that hit the federal government and broad parts of the private sector.
During remarks at the White House, Biden said he told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call on Tuesday that he could have moved on. Biden said that while he wants to avoid mounting tensions, he has made it clear to Putin that he will not hesitate to take further action in the future.
“We cannot allow a foreign power to interfere with our democratic process with impunity,” said Biden.
He added, “I told (Putin) that we would soon be responding in a measured and proportionate manner because we had concluded that they had interfered with the election and that SolarWinds … was totally inappropriate.”
The 10 Russian diplomats to be deported are based in Washington, DC and New York, and will have 30 days to leave the country, explains a US official familiar with the plans. When asked how the US chose the 10 diplomats to be deported, a senior government official told reporters on Thursday that those individuals “acted in a manner inconsistent with their status in the US” and refused to provide further details. .
This story has been updated with additional reporting.