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Russia-U.S. relations have been in a freefall over the last years, starting with the 2014 political crisis in Ukraine and dragging on up to now. On April 26, Russia in a very unequivocal manner dubbed the U.S. an "unfriendly state" in a presidential decree aimed at countering actions of unfriendly foreign states.
Later, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova clarified the move, saying that the states declared unfriendly "cannot hire Russian citizens as staff for their diplomatic and consular missions."
Such a stiff measure is rare for Russia. The last time it resorted to similar measures was in 1986, and the move significantly affected the normal operation of the U.S. mission, which was heavily reliant on foreign personnel for backup office tasks.
It also seems to be the first time that Moscow has legally branded a foreign state "unfriendly," and included the notion in its official documents. It speaks volumes of the Kremlin's changing attitude toward the U.S., shifting from the hopes for cooperation to the sobriety that their bilateral relations are in a deadlock and the "confrontation has hit the bottom," as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described it in early April.
The measure was a retaliatory response to the U.S.' earlier imposition of a new batch of sanctions encompassing limited restrictions on Russian sovereign debt and some prohibitions targeted at national technology companies, state agencies and other designated persons reportedly involved in Moscow's "malign activities."
Unlike previous punitive measures initiated by the U.S. government, which were rather targeted and very limited in their scope – thus mostly ineffective, the new restrictions on April 15 represent a broad array of extensive and sweeping sanctions leaving much space for Washington to squeeze Moscow even harder.
Notably, Joe Biden's administration has finally managed to amalgamate all its claims against "aggressive and harmful activities" of the Russian government as well as its "destabilizing behavior." Leading U.S. media outlets have underscored that such an assured move by Biden to draw red lines for what he calls "totally inappropriate" behavior, makes him starkly different from Donald Trump with his rather sluggish attempts to scold Moscow.
New sanctions are somewhat a finale to the buildup of Biden's anti-Russia rhetoric and actions over his tenure. In mid-March, he hinted upcoming measures when he claimed that Vladmir Putin would "pay a price" for undermining the 2020 U.S. election and lashed out at the Russian president, calling him "a killer."
Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends the online Leaders Summit on Climate hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden, in Moscow, Russia, April 22, 2021. /Getty
Washington seems to have aggregated all its complaints in a long list outlining Russia's harmful foreign activities that threaten the national security and foreign policy of the United States. It also mentions Moscow's malicious cyber activities, use of transnational corruption to influence foreign governments, undermining security in countries important to the United States' national security, and violating well-established principles of international law.
Russia has countered American accusations by highlighting that U.S. unilateral sanctions contradict international law, with Federation Council of Russia chairwoman Valentina Matviyenko pointing out that they are "illegal, unfounded and unsubstantiated."
Russian strategic partner China, which has also been a target of U.S. diplomatic attacks recently, has voiced support for Russia by opposing unilateral use of sanctions, calling such behavior "power politics and hegemonic bullying." Beijing has once again reinstated comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia and vowed to continue supporting the country in "safeguarding our respective sovereignty, security and development interests."
Biden has opted for a maximum pressure campaign against Moscow, reprehending it for all the past and present misfortunes. The most alarming sign of the degradation of bilateral ties is the narrowing window for official exchanges between diplomatic personnel, exemplified by the U.S.' decision to expel 10 Russian diplomats as part of the April 15 sanctions list.
Now Moscow and Washington do not practically have any area for dialogue, if not cooperation. Russian experts tend to see Moscow-Washington ties as slowly dismantling without "even confrontational engagement" and highlight that after Biden's offensive remarks pertaining to President Putin any "further engagement is pointless for now."
Nevertheless, a Biden-Putin summit may take place before June, but it seems that Moscow has embraced a hardline approach toward the "unfriendly" U.S., stressing that the meeting solely depends on the U.S.' behavior.
Since a positive agenda in U.S.-Russia ties is totally absent, with little or none coordination even on strategic issues, the possible leaders' meeting may become more of a "photo opportunity," but will not bring any tectonic developments, with leading Russian pundits stressing that it "won't change anything."
(CGTN)
