President Trump and U.S. lawmakers need to learn that the use of sanctions to punish Russian policies is “pointless,” according to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Lavrov delivered the rebuke to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson by phone after canceling a high-level diplomatic summit in Moscow that had been scheduled for Friday. The Russians cancelled the meeting after the Treasury Department updated existing sanctions related to the Ukraine crisis to target Russian government officials and separatist fighters who were circumventing the punitive measures.
“Lavrov pointed out that attempts to exert pressure on Russia through sanctions were pointless, though Washington once again used this tool on June 20,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a summary of the phone call carried by state-run media. “Such steps put Russian-U.S. ties at serious risk, while bilateral relations are already going through a tough period.”
Tillerson’s team criticized the decision to cancel the meeting as an overreaction to Treasury’s sanctions moves. “We have regularly updated these sanctions twice a year since they were first imposed,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Wednesday.
Lavrov complained about the sanctions updates in advance of the cancellation, but seemed to have broader policy changes in mind than the Treasury Department’s moves. “I regret the anti-Russia obsession of our American colleagues that is overstepping the limits,” Lavrov said Tuesday. “I can provide many more examples when Russia was blamed for developments around the world just because U.S. Congress was unhappy about something.”
The diplomatic flap comes just as Congress is trying to pass a broad package of new sanctions punishing Russia’s destabilization of Ukraine, support for Syrian President Bashar Assad, and interference in the 2016 presidential election. Tillerson, however, warned House lawmakers that the bill might impede his talks with Lavrov.
“I would urge Congress to ensure any legislation allows the president to have the flexibility to adjust sanctions to meet the needs of what is always an evolving diplomatic situation,” Tillerson told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “Essentially, we would ask for the flexibility to turn the heat up when we need to, but also to ensure that we have the ability to maintain a constructive dialogue.”
