Pres spox says US sanctions to worsen relations with Russia

MOSCOW, Nov 14 (PRIME) -- New U.S. sanctions will lead to further deterioration of relations with Moscow, and Russia will analyze Washington’s steps to minimize damage, spokesman for the president Dmitry Peskov told TV Rain in an interview broadcast on Wednesday.

“It’s hard to say what the sanctions will be. Will they lead to further deterioration of the situation in the Russian–U.S. relations? The answer is unambiguous: of course, they will,” Peskov said.

“Is this a negative factor? Yes, of course. The rest is to be seen, analyzed, what steps Washington will take and what we will do to minimize the consequences.”

The U.S. Congress is not expected to pass legislation ordering new U.S. sanctions on Russia before the end of the year because the Congress enters a so-called lame duck period before newly elected lawmakers take office in January.

Lawmakers were considering new sanctions legislation for a little more than a year after the Republican-controlled Congress passed an aggressive measure that forced the Treasury Department to target wealthy people close to Putin – so-called oligarchs.

Peskov also said that capital outflow will be followed by an inflow.

“The process is quite volatile – an outflow and an inflow. Capital only lives where there is freedom of capital movement,” he said.

“It is important to remember that Russia is a country where the fact of macroeconomic stability is hard to contest… Yes, there are moments of volatility, when more capital leaves the country than investment coming into the country. They are different trends, but there’s still freedom of capital movement, which means that capital flight will be replaced by an inflow.”

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