Russia has started diplomatic pushback over the sanctions imposed on it due to special operations in Ukraine. On Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that relations with the United States are “on the verge.” Russia on Monday nulled a 1991 agreement that allowed Japanese citizens to visit the Kuril Islands without a visa.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that U.S. President Joe Biden’s ‘unacceptable’ remarks about his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had brought bilateral relations between the countries to the brink of collapse.
The note of protest handed to U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan on Monday stemmed from comments made last week by Biden calling Putin a “war criminal,” a “murderous dictator”, and a “pure bandit.”
“Such statements by the President of the United States are unworthy of a statesman of such high rank and have brought Russian-American relations to the brink of collapse,” the foreign ministry said. “Hostile actions taken against Russia will be met with a decisive and firm rebuff.”
The Foreign Ministry also called on the United States to ensure “normal conditions for the work of Russian diplomatic missions in the United States, including guarantees for their uninterrupted functioning.”
The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Biden’s ‘irritability’ and ‘forgetfulness’ led to ‘aggressive statements’. He said that such rhetoric is ‘unacceptable and unforgivable’ from the president of the state, ‘whose bombs killed hundreds of thousands of people around the world’.
U.S. State Department responded to the Russian note of protest and backed off a little
U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Monday that the U.S. and Russia would keep their diplomatic missions in each other’s countries open and maintain deconfliction channels.
“We think it’s very important to maintain channels of communication with Russia. Open dialogue is critical, especially in times of tension, especially in times of conflict,” Price told reporters at a regular State Department news conference in Washington. And to ensure that the Russians can continue to maintain a diplomatic presence in the U.S.,” Price said.
He also pointed to the creation of ‘channels of deconflict at a tactical level with Moscow’. The U.S. and Russia will remain in contact despite Washington’s efforts to isolate Moscow on the world stage.
The U.S. finds itself isolated over sanctions on Russia and finds itself in a position where it has to threaten the rest of the world to get them to sanction Russia. The move has caused diplomatic embarrassment to the U.S.
Maria Zakharova questioned the statement by White House press secretary Jen Psaki
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova questioned the statement by White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who said the U.S. authorities did not ask American businesses to suspend their activities in Russia.
Jen Psaki had said that U.S. companies should decide for themselves whether to leave the Russian market. At the same time, the press secretary noted that the White House did not ask any firm to do this.
“Just like Nord Stream 2, the pipeline itself decided not to let gas pass through it,” Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel.
We have nothing to talk about now. And for nothing, Russia to Japan
Russia terminated a 1991 agreement that allowed Japanese citizens to visit the Kuril Islands without a visa and broke off negotiations with Japan to formally end World War II, citing Tokyo’s “blatantly unfriendly” behaviour in sanctions against Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine.
Due to the “obvious unfriendly nature of the unilateral restrictions imposed by Japan against Russia in connection with the situation in Ukraine”, the Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that it would “stop” the visa-free regime and “do not intend to continue negotiations with Japan on a peace agreement.”
Russia has also withdrawn from negotiations on establishing joint economic activities with Japan in the South Kuriles and will block Tokyo’s partner status in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization.
“The entire responsibility for the damage to bilateral cooperation and the interests of Japan lies with official Tokyo, which deliberately chose an anti-Russian course instead of developing mutually beneficial cooperation and good neighbourliness,” the Foreign Ministry said.
The Japanese Prime Minister was in India this week with a $45 Billion investment promise and obliged India to sanction Russia.