Russia Expels 10 U.S. Diplomats, Imposes Sanctions in Tit-for-Tat Response

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Russia expelled 10 American diplomats and imposed sanctions on eight officials in tit-for-tat moves retaliating for new U.S. punitive measures, but stopped short of responding to American restrictions on its sovereign debt.

The Russian government could take steps that harm the interests of U.S. businesses but will hold those in reserve for the moment, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a press conference on Friday.

The moves come after the U.S. Thursday announced sanctions on 32 entities and individuals and six Russian companies over allegations that Moscow was behind a hack on SolarWinds Corp. and interfered with last year’s presidential election. The Kremlin denies any role in those attacks.

Both sides said they wanted to prevent the current tensions from spiraling. President Joe Biden said Thursday the U.S. doesn’t want to kick off a cycle of escalation but is ready to take additional moves if needed. Lavrov, too, warned that Russia could take additional measures -- he threatened to oust as many as 150 more U.S. diplomats -- “if the ‘exchange of pleasantries’ continues,” he noted ironically.

Despite the new sanctions on Russia, the Kremlin has been at pains not to close the door to Biden’s offer of a summit, made in a phone call with President Vladimir Putin Tuesday. The planned meeting comes after Russia sparked rising tensions by massing troops on Ukraine’s borders.

“As we have already said, we responded positively,” Lavrov said. “Now we’re studying various aspects of this initiative.”

Russia won’t immediately respond to the U.S. decision to ban its financial institutions from buying new Russian government debt in the primary market, Lavrov said. “We for obvious reasons don’t have comparable leverage over the U.S.,” he said.

The ruble and Russian bonds initially fell on reports of the new U.S. sanctions but later made up most of their losses.

Lavrov also said a top Kremlin official had “recommended” the U.S. ambassador return to Washington for consultations. Moscow summoned its envoy to Washington back to Russia last month after Biden answered affirmatively when asked by a reporter if he thought Putin was “a killer.”

Russia also will no longer allow the U.S. to employ local or third-country staff at its diplomatic facilities, won’t offer short-term visas for diplomats and will restrict their movements more, he said. Russia also will close groups funded by the American government that he accused of meddling in its domestic politics.

Separately, Russian prosecutors Friday asked a Moscow court to declare opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation and his Moscow campaign headquarters as extremist organizations, stepping up a crackdown. The group warned that the designation could subject all of its staff and volunteers to criminal prosecution.

Putin’s most prominent opponent has been in prison since he returned in January from Germany, where he was treated for a near-fatal nerve-agent poisoning that he and Western governments blamed on the Kremlin. Russian authorities deny any involvement.

Navalny, 44, has been on a hunger strike for more than two weeks protesting prison authorities’ refusal to allow him proper medical care. His allies said Friday guards threatened to begin force-feeding him, citing a worsening of his health detected in a blood test. The Penitentiary Service didn’t respond to a request for comment.

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this is what happens when you blame others for your lies.

koniseatskimchi
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This nation's enemies see Darth Potato as a joke.
If he lets the world witness his new "woke" military in action, we're really screwed.

StillLivinginthewoods
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Well, then we'll take our McDonald's restaurants out of Moscow, that'll show em.

Dark-Sentences
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Damn clip is only 50 seconds long and half of it is a freaking add begging for subscribers. 😂

robertalexander
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LMFAO 4 months and hes done nothing to help America. In fact its worse off then when Trump was in office.

GMPIY
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funny thing is putin knows more of what he's doing than biden does so i feel this tit for tat isn't a childish retaliation

Parasiteve
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It's funny when the US has more communists than Russia 😂😂😂

thomasdahman
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The most "Don't F with us" countries:
1. Russia
2. China
3. USA

onlygenders
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For all those complaining Trump was civil with Putin...I would rather America be civil with Russia than risk nuclear war being enemies.

pootandbeans
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While we’re worrying about Russia, Chinas out there doing worser things..

PastelJackal
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Time to put the guys in the ring and let em figure it out. Sick of

Stoic
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Did he say “Quid Pro Quo” in a story involving Jim Crow Joe??

senorcougar
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Cold war 2.0. Thanks Joe. You promised dark days were ahead of us.

BonafideToolJunkie
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Wow! Big surprise! We can now officially point our fingers at any Biden voter and blame them for these actions he took.

ren
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Lol Putin isn't scared of piss ant Biden and he's showing it. He would've never done this if we had a strong leader like Trump to put him in his place. The world can see our weakness and it's getting exploited for all it's worth. Good job woke america, what's your answer now?

mindfreak
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A lot of unrest in the world since sugar daddy Joe became president.

charlesquarles
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Send the 10 diplomats home with a pink slip. That will save us millions.

gr
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Better be careful it’s tuff guy obiden

matthewclark
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This is how nuclear armageddon starts. Thanks, Mr. Biden.

dw
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I play Texas hold'em with a lot of Russians almost all are polite and intelligent... I respect Mr. Putin and Russia...as an American more than I do Washington's District of Criminals and their media parrots and pay-to-play banker big corporation lobby pay-to-play politics

stepstone