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Hope of improved Russia/US relations is “finished”, Russian PM says
Controversial US President, Donald Trump, has according to reports grudgingly signed a new bill for Russia sanctions into law- a move Russia says will amount to a full-scale trade war. In his immediate response, Russia’s Prime Minister, Medvedev, described as “finished” any hope of improved relations with the US.
Before signing the bill into law, Trump criticised it as infringing on his powers to shape foreign policy and said he could make “far better deals” with governments than congress can.
In a message to legislators after signing the bill into law, Trump said; “While I favour tough measures to punish and deter aggressive and destabilising behaviour by Iran, North Korea, and Russia, this legislation is significantly flawed.”
Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s prime minister, called the sanctions tantamount to a “full-scale trade war,” adding in a Facebook post that they showed the Trump administration had demonstrated “utter powerlessness”.
Read also: US SANCTIONS: Russia intensifies retaliation, expels 755 US diplomats
“The hope that our relations with the new American administration would improve is finished,” he wrote.
Three days ago, Vladimir Putin’s Russia responded to additional sanctions on Moscow approved by the US Congress by expelling no less than 755 American diplomats while also vowing to impose additional sanctions.
Explaining his decision in an interview relayed on state television on Sunday, Putin said he ordered the move because he “thought it was the time to show that we’re not going to leave that without an answer”.
He, however, ruled out any immediate measure against the US. “I am against it as of today,” Putin said in an interview with Vesti TV.
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