WASHINGTON, December 23. /TASS/. The US administration’s sanctions continue to have a toll on bilateral relations, while Washington refuses to admit that attempts to undermine Russia’s technological development are doomed to fail, a high-ranking Russian diplomat said.
"Such unconstructive steps by US authorities continue to drag bilateral relations into a quagmire. Here in Washington they stubbornly refuse to understand that any attempts to undermine Russia's technological development are doomed to fail. Moreover, such measures lead to serious negative consequences for other countries," Minister-Counselor Andrey Ledenev was quoted as saying by the Russian Embassy in the United States.
He added that "purely propaganda arguments promoted by local officials can be interpreted as if the new restrictions would help ensure the safety of navigation in the Black Sea and expand export of Ukrainian grain to the global markets."
"However, they did not bother to explain how this would be possible," the diplomat continued.
Ledenev underscored that "inclusion into the 'black lists' of large internationally recognized scientific institutions certainly does not serve the interests of US research communities."
"American scientists have repeatedly voiced their regret and even fears because of broken professional ties with Russian colleagues. The entire world, facing pressing challenges that require joint solutions, suffers from such a situation," he said.
The US expanded its blacklist of anti-Russian sanctions on Thursday by adding nine Russian organizations to it. The US Department of State said in a statement that the restrictions were imposed due to Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.