Washington does not seek to escalate tensions with Russia, but admits the possibility of introducing new restrictive measures. This was stated by the press secretary of President Joe Biden Jen Psaki. The broadcast of the briefing is available in the Twitter White House account.
“We expect that relations will continue to be a challenge. We are ready for this. And we do not seek neither a reset of relations with Russia, nor an escalation,” explained Psaki.
According to her, the United States intends to cooperate with Russians in areas in which interaction meets the interests of national security. As an example, Psaki cited the extension of the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START). In addition, the new American administration considers Moscow to be a key partner of Washington in resolving the Iranian nuclear problem.
A White House spokeswoman recalled that the US authorities are concerned about Russia’s “malicious” steps. US intelligence continues to study such Russian actions. “And we, of course, reserve the right to take additional steps, to take additional actions after [the US intelligence services have completed this review],” Psaki emphasized.
In addition, she did not rule out the possibility of using measures against Russia, which will not be advertised. Psaki concluded that the head of state and the national security team reserve the right to respond “in both visible and invisible ways.”
On March 2, the United States announced the imposition of sanctions against seven high-ranking officials of Russia due to the situation with Alexei Navalny (founder of the Anti-Corruption Fund, included by the Ministry of Justice in the register of organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent). Before that, restrictions on the case of the oppositionist were imposed by the European Union.