Lawmaker: By extending sanctions US shows no strategic cooperation with Russia possible

MOSCOW, March 3. /TASS/. First deputy chairman of the Defense and Security Committee of the Russian Federation Council upper house of parliament Frants Klintsevich said on Thursday that in his view, by extending for one year the sanctions against Russia the United States has made it clear that strategic cooperation with Russia is impossible.

"The US policy toward Russia has not changed. This conclusion indisputably follows from the US President Barack Obama’s executive order to extend the anti-Russian sanctions for another year. They have made it clear to us that any strategic cooperation between the two countries is out of the question," the official told reporters.

The parliamentarian said in this connection that he is certain that "the Russia-US agreement on Syria conveys nothing." According to him, the Americans "are traditionally doing only what is profitable for them, and if the situation changes they may well backtrack." "This, of course, does not mean that we cannot interact with them to address some specific issues, but at the same time we must be prepared for all eventualities," Klintsevich said.

US President Barack Obama has extended sanctions imposed on Russia over developments in Ukraine for one more year, the White House said on Wednesday. "The actions and policies addressed in the Executive Orders continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States," according to a document circulated by the White House. "Therefore, I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13660."

The Executive Order was issued on March 6, 2014. It was followed by more Executive Orders on March 16 and 20, 2014 (13661 and 13662) and on December 19, 2014 (13685) on Crimea. The sanctions are applicable to a number of Russian citizens, including state officials, and to officials of the government of Ukraine’s former President Viktor Yanukovich. Apart from that, a number of Russian companies and businessmen, as well as the leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics also fell under the sanctions.