MOSCOW, January 9. /TASS/. While the Kremlin is following the debate about control of the Panama Canal following US President-elect Donald Trump’s recent remarks, Moscow views this as a bilateral issue between Washington and Panama, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Earlier, Trump stated that the United States may gain control of the Panama Canal, unless the current terms of using it are revisited.
"We have heard statements by the Panama government and officials in Panama that at least voiced incomprehension over such a stance of the [US] president-elect. However, this is an issue of their bilateral relationship. We are watching this exchange of statements very closely," Peskov said.
Earlier, Trump criticized Panamanian authorities for high fees for US ships to transit the Panama Canal as he emphasized that the US ceded it in 1999 as "a token of cooperation." Panama President Jose Raul Mulino dismissed Trump’s threats, saying there is "nothing to talk about."
Commissioned in 1914, the Panama Canal was built by the United States and stayed under its control until 1977 when the Torrijos-Carter agreement relinquished American control over the canal by 2000. Today, it remains a major route for the global economy and a key object of US interest.