Russia And The EU React To The U.S. Congress Passing New Sanctions On Russia

Reuters: Russia, EU bristle at proposed new U.S. sanctions on Moscow, warn of action

MOSCOW/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Russia warned it was edging closer to retaliation against Washington after the House of Representatives backed new U.S. sanctions on Moscow, while the European Union said the move might affect its energy security and it stood ready to act too.

The lower house of the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly voted to impose new sanctions on Moscow on Tuesday and to force President Donald Trump to obtain lawmakers' permission before easing any punitive measures on Russia.

"This is rather sad news from the point of view of Russia-U.S. ties," said Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman. "We are talking about an extremely unfriendly act."

He said President Vladimir Putin would decide if and how Moscow would retaliate once the fresh sanctions became law, while Russia's deputy foreign minister warned the move was taking bilateral relations into uncharted waters, killing off any hope of improving them in the near future.

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WNU editor: Russia is in a quandary on this issue. They know that President Trump wants to build better relations with Russia and that he does not favour new sanctions. They also understand the politics that are swirling around in Washington, and the blame that they (the Kremlin) are receiving for "hacking" the U.S. election. But any Russian response to these new sanctions would only undermine President Trump .... and at this moment in time he is the only one in Washington who wants to deal with them. My prediction .... the Kremlin is going to retaliate, and their hope is that the EU will put pressure on the U.S. to soften and/or minimise these sanctions. As for the EU itself .... they are justifiably steamed. These new sanctions will harm their business interests with Russia, and they will probably retaliate.

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