MOSCOW, June 21. /TASS/. The drafting of a new package of sanctions against Russia results from the continuing internal political struggle in the United States. It demonstrates the divergence of views inside the US elite on the Russian track, the board chairman of the Foundation of Support for and Development of the International Discussion Club Valdai, Andrei Bystritsky, told TASS.

"I believe that by and large this [the drafting of new sanctions against Russia] was done for internal political reasons, because a rather large share of the US elite is anti-Russian and this, of course, fuels internal struggle," he said.

The expert stressed that in the United States there existed both rational forces, seeking to establish stable and predictable relations with Russia, and irrational ones, ready for tightening the spiral of sanctions still further. Bystritsky believes that the Russian-US summit in Geneva demonstrated the US administration's rational approach.

"In this sense the Biden administration demonstrates that it is firm, balanced and equidistant from different wings of the very same Democratic Party," Bystritsky stressed.

The US will be trying to use another portion of sanctions against Russia to maintain the image of a hardline world power and to meet the expectations of its anti-Russian allies, in particular, in the region of Eastern Europe.

"It goes without saying that by making this gesture the Americans will be trying to create an image and dictate to the whole world their role of a harsh and uncompromising force," Bystritsky said. "Also, this sends a certain message to foreign policy allies - and these are many and varied. Some of them are anti-Russian: we have been able to see the rather extravagant reaction, I should say, from the Ukrainian authorities. The same is true of a number of East European countries." 

Bystritsky stressed that for the time being it was impossible to assess objectively the scale of the new package of sanctions and its effects on Russia.

"It is an attempt at maneuvering by the United States. In this particular case it is merely a gesture, and its real implications and scale remain anyone's guess," he concluded.

US presidential national security advisor Jake Sullivan said on Sunday that Washington was drafting new sanctions against Russia over the situation involving Russian blogger Alexey Navalny. Also, he said the US authorities would continue to impose sanctions on Russian companies participating in the Nord Stream gas pipeline project.