'First Obama, then Biden': Russia accuses Democratic presidents of sabotaging US-Russia ties before Trump's return
World: Moscow accused the Biden administration of leaving a “scorched earth” for incoming President Donald Trump, claiming that the new leader would struggle to reverse the sanctions without congressional approval.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has criticised the administration of outgoing US President Joe Biden, accusing it of severely damaging relations between Russia and the United States. Lavrov gave the statement during an interview with a Russian journalist, which was shared on Telegram on Sunday (19 January), a day before US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.
Leaving strained legacy for Trump and his team
“The disservice is tremendous but the administration of Donald Trump seriously damaged as well, largely due to the fact in particular that (ex-president) of US BarackObama left such legacy to Trump and his team.And the sanctions imposed by Obama three weeks before Trump’s inauguration were simply dishonorable, unethical, with our diplomats expelled, five diplomatic property units stolen. Of course, they set our relations at a position of not the best start I would say. And now we see Biden’s administration trying to do the same,” Lavrov stated.
Lavrov also reacted to a recent comment by President Biden, who compared himself to Russian President Vladimir Putin while summing up his presidency. Biden stressed that during his visit to Kyiv, Putin wasn't there. Lavrov said, “If a politician of such a scale as US President assesses his own term as a head of a powerful country on the basis of coup de theatre: "Well, I was in Kyiv, Putin wasn’t there," one can probably make a conclusion about how serious his approach to fulfilling his duties is.”
Biden leaving ‘scorched earth’ for incoming President Donald Trump
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This is not the first instance of Russia accusing the Biden administration of straining ties with the Kremlin. The United States and the United Kingdom earlier this month announced new sanctions targeting Russia’s energy sector, including major oil company Gazprom Neft.
In response, Moscow accused the Biden administration of leaving a “scorched earth” for incoming President Donald Trump, claiming that the new leader would struggle to reverse the sanctions without congressional approval. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov suggested that the Biden administration was intentionally creating obstacles for Trump by leaving behind “as heavy a legacy as possible.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry described the sanctions as “an attempt to inflict at least some damage to the Russian economy, even at the cost of the risk of destabilising world markets as the end approaches of President Joe Biden’s inglorious tenure in power.”
The ministry added, “Of course, Washington’s hostile actions will not be left without reaction.”
(With inputs from agencies)
