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US Congress should refrain from destructive approach towards Moscow — ambassador

US senators unveiled a draft bill to task the US Administration with considering the possibility of imposing sanctions on 35 people from the so-called Navalny list

WASHINGTON, October 13. /TASS/. US lawmakers, who are trying to ruin Rusian-US ties with "maniacal persistence," should refrain from destructive approaches in Russian-US relations, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov was quoted as saying by the Russian Embassy.

Commenting on US senators’ initiative to impose sanctions against Russian citizens under the Magnitsky Act, the diplomat said: "Maniacal persistence of local legislators trying to bring down Russian-American relations is bewildering. The new attempt to impose restrictions on 35 Russians under a completely contrived pretext is a clear example of this."

"Apparently, in this manner, the Capitol intends to create among the voters the illusion of ‘fighting the enemies of America,’ which it invents itself instead of dealing with the urgent problems of its own country," Antonov continued.

"We call on members of Congress to abandon destructive approaches and ‘throw off the anti-Russian blinders.’ It is high time for them to realize that there is no alternative to a constructive and mutually respectful dialogue with Russia, especially in the face the multiplying global challenges," the Russian diplomat added.

Earlier in the day, US senators unveiled a draft bill to task the US Administration with considering the possibility of imposing US sanctions on 35 people from the so-called Navalny list, in accordance with the Magnitsky Act.

In early September, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said attempts to draw a connection between the Russian government and the incident involving the Russian blogger were inadmissible.

Alexey Navalny was rushed to a local hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk on August 20, 2020, after collapsing on a Moscow-bound flight from Tomsk. He fell into a coma and was put on a ventilator in an intensive care unit. On August 22, he was airlifted to Berlin and admitted to the Charite hospital. On September 2, the German government claimed that the blogger had been affected by a toxic agent belonging to the Novichok family. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed out that no poisonous substances had been detected in Navalny’s system prior to his transfer to Berlin.