MOSCOW, August 4. /TASS/. American filmmaker Oliver Stone has slammed the US legislators’ decision to impose new sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea, saying the vote was "idiotic."
"Congress passed its Russia sanctions last week... Idiotic vote raising tensions further a la August 1914," Stone wrote on Twitter.
The filmmaker also said that the "US intelligence might mislead them [Congress members - TASS] to continue false-flag war against Russia." "Don’t think for themselves," Stone added.
In June, Stone’s four-part documentary dubbed The Putin Interviews premiered on Showtime. In the documentary, the American filmmaker and the Russian president discussed the Syrian issue, the Ukrainian conflict and Russian-US relations. It provoked much controversy in the United States, as many media outlets accused Stone of having an affection for Putin.
New round of sanctions
On July 27, the US Senate passed a bill imposing new unilateral sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea. The document, dubbed Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, enshrines restrictions introduced by the previous US administration and deprives the US president of the right to ease the sanctions without congressional approval.
As a response, the Russian Foreign Ministry suggested that by September 1, Washington reduce the number of diplomatic and technical staff at is diplomatic missions in Russia, to match the number of Russian staff working in the United States. Besides, on August 1, Russia suspended the use of a US country house located in the Serebryany Bor area in northwest Moscow and a Moscow storage facility.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump signed the bill passed by the Congress, calling the document flawed and accusing US legislators of taking Washington’s relations with Moscow to "an all-time and very dangerous low."