PRESS RELEASE
Lavrov: Sanctions Were Attack on Trump
Sept. 1, 2017 (EIRNS)—Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during his speech at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations today that the U.S. Congress is undermining Trump’s intention to improve relations with Russia. (This was hours before the Ministry announced the FBI plan to invade the Consulate in San Francisco Saturday—see accompanying report.)
TASS reports that Lavrov said that after the meeting between Trump and Putin,
"it became clearer that President Trump, as he said many times after the meeting—was interested in bringing relations with Russia back to normal.... This is a mutual goal, since we share this position. We are ready to move forward at a speed that would be convenient for the Trump administration. We understand that efforts are being made to corner [the administration] at every opportunity, so we don’t believe it is necessary to take any active steps concerning relations with the U.S."
He added:
"We understand that there are forces that simply want to undermine the administration. This is our standpoint on the sanctions that Congress has been forcing on Donald Trump."
TASS added that
"Lavrov also said that the sanctions bill passed by the Congress is aimed more at Trump than at Russia, as U.S. legislators seek to prevent him from fully using his constitutional powers as far as foreign policy goes."
"As you know, it takes two to tango, but it seems to me that our partners keep performing individual breakdance," Lavrov said. He added that all of the "exchange of sanction moves" were initiated by the Obama administration to undermine relations and hinder the incoming president from changing the situation for the better.
Lavrov said Russian responses to hostile actions would not damage Russia’s own interests, but,
"At the same time, we will furnish tough responses to moves that inflict damage out of nothing and are based only on someones wish to ruin our relations with the United States."
