13 Sep 2018 12:57

U.S.' reliance on sanctions reaches climax - Kosachyov

MOSCOW. Sept 13 (Interfax) - The United States would have been dubbed as a rogue country if all countries that have experienced the U.S.' interference in their affairs had imposed sanctions on Washington, Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachyov wrote on Facebook.

"Let us not forget the fact that sanctions for foreign interference have been imposed by the country, which has invariably been the world's leading intruder in affairs of other nations, including by military means, for decades. I think the U.S. would have become a total rogue state should all countries in the world whose affairs the United States has interfered into had chosen to impose sanctions on it," Kosachyov said.

He made the remark in comment on U.S. President Donald Trump's order authorizing additional sanctions against countries or individuals for interfering in upcoming U.S. elections.

"It seems the United States' reliance of sanctions has reached its climax. This time President Trump has imposed sanctions for something that has not yet happened, i.e. interference in the upcoming elections. Yet, if you think about it, the only one who interfered in the U.S. presidential election was ... the U.S. Congress. This is the one that is openly blocking the fulfillment of the mandate the U.S. president has received from American voters," Kosachyov said.

In this case, Trump is trying to use the situation to the advantage of America and himself, Kosachyov said. "The subject of foreign interference, especially with emphasis on the activity in the social media and the cyberspace at large, connected to election campaigns, 'misinformation and propaganda,' are extremely convenient as a casus belli, and a pretext for various sanctions and other measures, which could be presented as countering," he said.