Russia Threatens to Respond to Actions Approved at the End of Obama's Term

The Russian Foreign Minister has threatened that Moscow will react to the punitive measures approved at the end of Barack Obama's presidency and the closure of Russian-owned buildings. These actions were taken following Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election, but Russia had stated that it would not retaliate 'for now.' Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, stated on July 20 in Brussels, 'We hope that the U.S., as a country that promotes the rule of law, will respect its international commitments.' He then added, 'If this does not happen, if we feel that fundamental steps are not being taken in Washington, then we will naturally take reciprocal actions.' The Russian Foreign Minister refrained from explaining the details of the possible response to Washington. The United States, on December 28 of the previous year, expelled 35 Russian diplomats and closed two Russian-owned buildings in New York and Maryland, accusing Russia of 'cyberattacks' and harassment of its officials. These sanctions were approved after Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election. Barack Obama, the then-President, had stated that Russian cyberattacks 'damaged Hillary Clinton's campaign,' although various factors influenced the election outcome. After the sanctions were approved, Russia initially announced that it would respond to this event. However, hours later, it was reported that Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, decided not to retaliate to see how Donald Trump would behave towards Russia after officially taking office. Two weeks after these reports, Mr. Trump stated in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that sanctions against Russia would remain in place for a while, but if Moscow helped the U.S., there would be no reason to maintain the sanctions. In mid-January of the previous year, senior U.S. intelligence officials, appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, stated that Russian 'cyberattacks' posed a 'major threat' to the United States and that Russia had 'undoubtedly' interfered in the U.S. elections. Donald Trump had initially expressed doubt about the interference but later accepted it and stated that he would take actions to pursue this issue as he was about to officially take office. Two weeks ago, Mr. Trump tweeted that if Barack Obama, the then-President, knew about Putin's intention to interfere in the U.S. elections, why did he not take action at that time, and 'now we should focus on them and not [on] me.' The Washington Post had reported at that time that the Obama administration had taken steps to counter Russia but refrained from disclosing them due to what was described as preventing 'damage to public confidence in U.S. elections.' Currently, at least two U.S. congressional committees and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are conducting investigations related to Russia and the U.S. elections.