The White House said on Friday that President Trump had signed an executive order, under which the U.S. government would block international financial institutions such as the World Bank from lending to governments subject to U.S. sanctions for using chemical or nuclear weapons.
The Russian rouble dipped to 65 versus the dollar on Friday for the first time in seven weeks, a fall analysts said could partly be attributed to the reported sanctions move.
"I think that this is primarily connected to U.S. domestic politics," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the RT TV channel.
Ryabkov said he regretted that U.S.-Russia ties, already strained by differences over everything from Syria to Ukraine, had become a political football in the United States.
Russian officials have repeatedly complained about what they say is Trump's lack of room for maneuver, due to pressure on him from Congress and political rivals to look tough in the wake of accusations Moscow helped him win election in 2016.
Former U.S. special prosecutor Robert Mueller indicted dozens of Russians for what his office called a state-run plot to influence the election to help Trump win. Moscow has denied the accusations. Trump calls the investigation a witch hunt.
Ryabkov said Moscow linked the sanctions to upcoming presidential elections in the United States and said Moscow was ready to defend itself from any negative consequences caused by the new restrictions.
https://freebeacon.com/national-security/u-s-imposes-new-sanctions-on-russia-over-skripal-poisoning/
