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Russian diplomat laments ‘anti-Russian hysteria’ in US Congress

There’s a strong bipartisan anti-Russian consensus, Sergey Ryabkov noted

MOSCOW, January 13. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov on Thursday said "anti-Russian hysteria" swept the US Congress, stamping out the slightest chances of improving relations with Moscow.

"The Congress has been overwhelmed with anti-Russian hysteria," he said in an interview with RTVI television. "The events of the recent days only confirm how strong the emotions are and how dominant the aspirations are to torpedo the slightest seedlings of common sense in the dialogue between Moscow and Washington, stamp them out and impose an agenda that will ultimately drive the relations into a logjam and will effectively cause their breakdown."

There’s a strong bipartisan anti-Russian consensus, Rybakov said.

"There’s a lot of people in the US administration that don’t like, and even feel repulsed by, current Russia and that want to harm Russia," he said. "We realize that. We know many of these people by name, we know their job titles."

Moscow believes the situation needs to be given some time to calm down, the diplomat said. Taking small steps to rebuild trust could be a good tactic, for example in restoring normal operations of both countries’ diplomatic missions, he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, a group of Democrat legislators led by Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey introduced a bill to the US Senate on restrictions against Russia if tensions around Ukraine escalate. It involves, among other things, sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, heads of the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Defense, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, and other members of the military leadership. In addition, restrictive measures may affect the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The proposed legislation is titled Defending Ukraine Sovereignty Act of 2022.

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Anti-Russian sanctions

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