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31Jan18

Kremlin: US makes unpredictable remarks about links between 'Kremlin List' and sanctions

Washington is proving itself as an "unpredictable vis-a-vis" when making contradictory remarks on the links between the 'Kremlin List' and anti-Russian sanctions, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately, we are dealing with a rather unpredictable vis-a-vis, there are a lot of contradictions and unpredictability in the steps of [the United States]," Peskov told reporters.

While the US Treasury Department stresses that the document is not a sanctions list, later "official statements are made that this is the beginning of sanctions and then there are incompatible words and so on," Peskov said.

"Unfortunately, we are dealing with unpredictable partners, and certainly, amid this unpredictability we need to be concentrated and act in line with the understanding of what we want," Peskov said, explaining that Russia needs to do what "meets its own interests."

In comments to the US media reports that the document's text had been changed at the very last moment, Peskov said it was not a matter of Russia to guess about this. He also recalled Russian President Vladimir Putin's remark that this list was an "unfriendly and hostile act" towards Russia.

On Monday, the US Treasury Department published the unclassified portion of the "Kremlin List" that includes all members of the Russian government and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the leadership of the presidential administration and heads of state corporations and banks, and also businessmen with a net worth of $1 billion or more.

The list, which has 210 names, is divided into several sections - the presidential administration, the cabinet of ministers, as well as "political leaders" and "oligarchs." This is not a sanctions list and no restrictions are being slapped on those mentioned in the document, the Treasury Department stresses.

Thaw prospects expectations

Peskov believes that "thaw prospects expectations" are utterly out of place in the current context of Russian-US relations.

"Regrettably, such terms as 'thaw' or 'thaw prospects' are in total disagreement with the current background of Russian-US relations," he said, when asked if it was possible to say in the wake of the US president's annual address at a joint meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives one can expect some thaw in relations between Moscow and Washington.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening made his first State of the Union address at a joint meeting of the Senate and the House of Representatives in which he dwelt upon the home and foreign policy priorities of his administration. He reviewed the successes of his team achieved during the first year in office. In his statement Trump mentioned Russia just once. He described it and China as US adversaries.

[Source: Itar Tass, Moscow, 31Jan18]
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