Russian Senator: US ‘Kremlin List’ Means Breakdown of Ties with Moscow

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Commenting on the US Treasury's "Kremlin List" against several Russian politicians and businessmen, a top Russian Senator considered the inclusion of virtually the entire Russian leadership signals a de-facto breakdown of relations between the US and Russia.

"Formally our countries have relations, but including in the sanctions list almost all our country's leadership means that those relations automatically break down," First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Vladimir Dzhabarov said.

He also called it "gross interference" in Russia's internal affairs.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said earlier on Tuesday that the US Treasury's ‘Kremlin List' resembles a Who's Who of Russian politics.

Dvorkovich said he was not surprised to find his name on the list.

"As a member of the government, I was obliged to be on this list, the entire government is there, so there is nothing surprising. It is a list of individuals who are obviously the leading ones in Russian politics and business. This is not a sanctions list; it's a list which is used for further decisions and assessments. We will continue to monitor the situation. There are no grounds for any action yet," he told journalists in Novosibirsk.

The US Treasury's ‘Kremlin List' infringes on the principles of relations between the countries, making cooperation with Russia in different spheres practically impossible, Frants Klintsevich, the deputy head of a Russian upper house committee, said.

"I do not know what will follow this report, but its very appearance is unprecedented," he noted.

The US Treasury's list resembles a "Kremlin telephone book," rewritten by the US special services, Senator Konstantin Kosachev said.

It simply points to the fact that US intelligence "is desperate to find some provable compromising material on Russian politicians," Kosachev wrote on Facebook.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team