MOSCOW, March 8. /TASS/. State Duma deputy Adalbi Shkhagoshev, a deputy chairman of the United Russia party caucus said on Wednesday he believes that Washington will alter its anti-Russian rhetoric after the March 18 presidential election in Russia "given the pragmatism" typical of the US.

Daniel Coats, the director of US National Intelligence said earlier the expansion of anti-Russian sanctions was possible already next week, with additional restrictive measures in the offing.

"As I already said earlier, the peak of the pro-sanctions rhetoric on the part of the US will occur in the run-up to the March 18 election," Shkhagoshev said. "A week prior to the election, the Americans will certainly try to do a bad turn to us with new sanctions."

"Still, if you consider the pragmatism typical of the US, I’m sure the rhetoric will change after the election somehow and there is one definite factor that makes me think along these lines," he said. "The Americans realize full well that Vladimir Putin is one of the most experienced politicians of our times and our most powerful Western partners have subjected him to an endurance test."

"Putin, however, has proved capable of offering an alternative to the unipolar world and won the contest, compelling Western nations with the US at the top to reckon with Russia’s interests, and especially with account of the military balance arising in the world now," Shkhagoshev said.

"There’s a chance that Russian-US collaboration will reach a level beneficial for both countries after the election," he said. "This won’t be simple but Russia has always made clear its preparedness for conducting dialogue even amid the sanctions.".