Maria Zakharova, the ministry’s spokeswoman, told reporters that retaliation against the move was “unavoidable,” and that the American ambassador, John Sullivan, had been summoned for “tough talks.” She said, “I would hardly have said this before, but I can say it now: It’s not going to be a pleasant meeting …
Read More »US imposes new sanctions against Russia, expels ten diplomats & targets national debt in move Moscow may view as major escalation
The move, which the White House says is in response to alleged interference by Moscow in the 2020 US presidential election, will see American companies banned from directly buying shares in Russia’s national debt. The Kremlin has consistently denied that it made any attempt to meddle in the contest, in …
Read More »State Dept says US prepared to lift Iran sanctions, but warns of ‘long road ahead’ amid indirect talks to revive nuclear pact
“We are prepared to take the steps necessary to return to compliance with the JCPOA, including by lifting sanctions that are inconsistent with the JCPOA,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters on Wednesday, referring to the nuclear deal by its formal title, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Price …
Read More »China’s new partnership with Iran is not a full alliance, but enough to undermine US sanctions & rock global status quo
In the midst of a spat of tensions between China and the West, Beijing’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi spent the weekend in Iran, another country that has borne the brunt of confrontation with the United States over the past few years. Sweeping the Middle East on his diplomatic tour, in …
Read More »China sanctions UK officials and entities for ‘maliciously’ spreading ‘disinformation’ about Uighur Muslims
The sanctions, which take effect immediately, target Tom Tugendhat, the chair of the UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative Party leader, and Baroness Helena Kennedy, a prominent human rights lawyer, as well as others. Separately, the Uighur Tribunal and its chair, Sir Geoffrey Nice, the …
Read More »EU goes ‘better dead than red’ on Russian vaccine & China sanctions. Guess whose interests it really serves?
The European Union publicly espouses a policy of strategic autonomy, meaning that it should, in theory, strive to be more independent, pursue its own interests. However, recent events suggest that the EU is perfectly content being a ping pong ball in the US’ Cold War 2.0: Electric Boogaloo. For starters, …
Read More »The US’ push for allied sanctions on China edges us closer to a new Cold War, but Biden mustn’t bank on long-term European support
Will this week mark a new turning point for China’s ties with the West? Has the EU’s policy of engagement with Beijing abruptly ended? On Monday, in tandem with the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, the bloc unleashed a number of sanctions on officials within the Xinjiang autonomous region …
Read More »EU should impose counter-sanctions on US officials who target European firms, former French envoy to Washington says
Pierre Vimont, a career French diplomat who served as envoy to the US from 2007-2010, said in an interview that extraterritorial sanctions have become “a privileged weapon of American diplomacy” and that Europe should adopt a new “preventative” approach to dealing with the tactic. According to Vimont, there is increasing …
Read More »China blacklists 10 EU officials and academics after bloc hits Beijing with sanctions over alleged abuses of Uighur Muslims
A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday that the EU’s sanctions over the alleged detention and forced labor of Uighur Muslims, announced earlier on Monday, were based on “maliciously spread lies and disinformation.” The move “grossly interferes in China’s internal affairs” and “flagrantly breaches international law,” the …
Read More »Iran’s supreme leader: ‘No credibility’ in US promises, only full lifting of sanctions would work
The persistent US-Iran issues of the comatose 2015 nuclear deal and Washington-imposed sanctions were touched upon by Khamenei in a televised speech on Sunday. Vague promises and signals sent by President Joe Biden’s administration have not impressed Iran, which in the past has trusted the words of the US officials, …
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