Russian Embassy Warns Additional Sanctions Would Primarily Harm the United States
Dragon Media News Desk
The Russian Embassy in the United States has warned that additional punitive measures against Russia could restrict President Donald Trump’s diplomatic flexibility and ultimately damage the US economy itself.
In a statement, the embassy said a bill named after the late US Senator Lindsey Graham was approved by the Senate in a preliminary vote on July 28. It described the move as a disservice to the current US administration.
According to the embassy, Graham and his allies travelled repeatedly between Kyiv and Washington earlier this year while demanding the toughest possible sanctions against Russia. Their proposals reportedly included tariffs of up to 500 percent on countries purchasing Russian energy.
The embassy said the White House had previously sought to restrain what it described as the lawmakers’ excessive enthusiasm for sanctions. The administration had argued that the US president already possessed sufficient tools to exert economic and other pressure on Moscow, while additional legislative restrictions would only reduce his room for diplomatic manoeuvre.
The statement claimed that, as the United States becomes increasingly involved in its Iran-related campaign, it faces a growing risk of disruption in global energy markets. Such instability could raise fuel prices at American petrol stations and intensify inflation ahead of the November midterm elections, it said.
The embassy also argued that Republican foreign-policy hawks were obstructing President Trump’s diplomatic agenda, potentially giving political advantages to their Democratic opponents.
It maintained that the ineffectiveness of sanctions pressure against Russia had already been demonstrated in practice. In the current circumstances, further punitive measures would primarily harm the United States itself, particularly as anti-Russia lawmakers claim to have secured the administration’s support, the statement said.
The Russian Embassy expressed hope that the White House fully understood the risks involved.
It also recalled that the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, adopted by Congress during President Trump’s first term, had already imposed strict constraints on the executive branch. Under that legislation, any potential agreement to lift or ease existing sanctions would require congressional approval.
