United
States’ State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said yesterday the U.S.
remains open to discussions with Russia despite its decision to cancel talks
between
Russia’s deputy foreign minister and the No. 3 U.S. diplomat,
Associated Press reported.
Russia said
it was canceling the talks scheduled for tomorrow in response to a new round of
U.S. sanctions against Russia that were announced Tuesday. Nauert said those
sanctions “didn’t come out of nowhere.” She said Russia knows what it needs to
do to get the sanctions lifted. She said the sanctions will remain until Russia
honours its agreements related to Ukraine and stops occupying Crimea.
Nauert said
the latest round of sanctions was designed to “counter attempts to circumvent
our sanctions.” Russia’s deputy foreign minister said he has cancelled upcoming
talks with the U.S. undersecretary of state over a new round of U.S. sanctions
against Russia.
The Trump
administration announced Tuesday that it has imposed sanctions on 38 Russian
individuals and firms over Russia’s activities in Ukraine. The Russian Foreign
Ministry on Wednesday quoted Deputy Minister Sergey Ryabkov as saying that “the
situation is not conducive to holding a round of this dialogue” that was
scheduled for Friday and criticized the U.S. for “not having offered and not
offering anything specific” to discuss.
Russia-U.S.
relations have remained tense even as the White House considers scheduling
President Donald Trump’s meeting with Putin on the sidelines of next month’s
Group of 20 meeting. The Kremlin has voiced regret about the new U.S. sanctions
against Russia and warned of possible retaliation.
President
Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that the U.S. move
wasn’t constructive, adding that “various options are being considered on
expert level.”The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it has imposed
sanctions on 38 Russian individuals and firms over Russian activities in
Ukraine. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the penalties are designed
to “maintain pressure on Russia to work toward a diplomatic solution.”
Russia-U.S.
relations have remained tense even as the White House considers scheduling
President Donald Trump’s meeting with Putin on the sidelines of next month’s
Group of 20 meeting. Peskov reaffirmed the possibility of such a meeting, but
said that no preparations had been made yet.
Meanwhile, a
U.S. official said yesterday that Russian hackers targeted election systems in
21 US states during last year’s campaign. Jeanette Manfra of the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) refused to identify the states during her testimony
before a Senate panel, citing confidentiality agreements. But she added there
was no evidence to suggest actual vote ballots were altered in the election
hack.
US
intelligence agencies believe Moscow interfered to help Donald Trump win. Ms
Manfra, the department’s acting deputy undersecretary of cyber security,
testified on Wednesday before the Senate Intelligence committee, which is
investigating Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 election.
“As of right
now, we have evidence that election-related systems in 21 states were
targeted,” she told the panel. She said DHS still had confidence in the US
voting system because they are “fundamentally resilient”.
The Kremlin
has repeatedly denied any involvement in election cyber hacks while Mr Trump
has dismissed allegations that his campaign colluded with Russia as “fake
news”.
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