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“Russia-AgainGate”: Dead-End In US-Russia Relations? Putin “Must Pay A Price” for Election Meddling, Says Biden
By Stephen Lendman
Global Research, March 18, 2021

Url of this article:
https://www.globalresearch.ca/russia-againgate-dead-end-in-us-russia-relations-putin-must-pay-a-price-for-election-meddling-says-biden/5740263

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In short order since replacing Trump two months ago by brazen election rigging, Biden and hardliners in charge of his geopolitical agenda have gone all out to wreck already greatly deteriorated Russian/US relations.

What’s going on is madness that’s likely to deteriorate further, not improve.

Given their world’s largest thermonuclear arsenals, other super-weapons, and long-range delivery capabilities able to strike targets everywhere with precision accuracy, no bilateral relationship is more crucial to keep peaceful and cooperative.

During Cold War years, relations between both countries were largely civil. Mutually assured destruction (MAD) prevented the unthinkable.

Things changed dramatically after Obama/Biden replaced democratic rule in Ukraine with Nazi-infested fascist tyranny in Europe’s heartland, bordering Russia.

The color revolution got Crimeans to rejoin their motherland, choosing democratic freedom over fascism.

Donbass in Ukraine’s southeast broke away from Kiev for the same reason, refusing to accept tyrannical rule.

Washington falsely accused Russia of invading Ukraine.

Sanctions war followed for nonexistent “Russian aggression” and other invented pretexts.

Putin earlier explained that during Trump’s tenure, the US (unlawfully) sanctioned Russia 46 times.

US war by other means included going all-out to block completion of Russia’s Nord Stream II gas pipeline to Germany and the so-called Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) – targeting Russia, Iran and North Korea.

 

Despite Trump’s objections to the hostile measure, calling it “seriously flawed,” House and Senate members overwhelmingly adopted it, DJT signing it into law in August 2017.

Only 5 of 535 US lawmakers voted against it.

The measure sanctioned Russia for (nonexistent) US election meddling, permitting Crimeans to rejoin their motherland, and involvement of Moscow in Syria — combatting US-supported jihadists, turning the tide of war, changing the dynamic on the ground, enabling Damascus to regain control over most of the country.

Notably on Wednesday, Russia recalled its envoy to Washington Anatoly Antonov for consultations. See below.

It came in response to a contrived US intelligence community assessment (ICA), falsely saying:

“We assess that…Putin authorized, and a range of Russian government organizations conducted, influence operations aimed at denigrating President Biden’s candidacy and the (Dem) Party, supporting former President Trump, undermining public confidence in the electoral process, and exacerbating sociopolitical divisions in the US (sic).”

Like virtually always when Washington accuses invented adversaries of all sorts of things they had nothing to do with, no corroborating evidence is presented because none exists.

Along with the above, Biden threatened to make Putin “pay a price” for nonexistent Kremlin US election meddling and other phony pretexts, claiming Russia’s leader doesn’t “have a soul (sic).”

Asked if he thinks he’s “a killer,” he responded: “Uh-huh. I do,” adding:

“The price he’s gonna pay we’ll– you’ll see shortly.”

Hostile US actions and Biden’s tough talk dangerously escalated bilateral tensions.

While both countries maintain diplomatic relations, they’re effectively in tatters.

Escalating US war on nonbelligerent Russia threatening no one and Vladimir Putin personally could rupture ties altogether — risking confrontation by accident or design.

On Wednesday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the following:

Antonov was recalled to Moscow “for consultations conducted with the aim of analyzing what should be done and where to go in the context of ties with the US,” adding:

He’ll “fly to Moscow for consultations on March 20.”

“He will hold meetings at the Russian Foreign Ministry and other government agencies to discuss ways of correcting the Russian-US ties, which are now in a crisis.”

“The current situation stems from Washington’s deliberate policy.”

US hardliners “ha(ve) been deliberately driving bilateral cooperation to a dead end in the recent years.”

The Biden regime’s “non-constructive policy towards our country is in the interest of neither Russia nor the United States, and certain reckless statements of US senior officials pose a threat of utter collapse to bilateral relations, which are already excessively confrontational.”

On Wednesday at a State Department press briefing, Blinken’s deputy press secretary Jalina Porter said the following about Biden regime actions against Russia:

“(W)e engage in ways that advance American interests.”

“We also remain clear-eyed about the challenges that Russia pose (sic). We can’t underscore that enough (sic).”

“(E)ven as we work with Russia to advance US interests, we’ll be able to hold Russia accountable for any of their malign actions (sic).”

Separately, Zakharova accused the Biden regime of recklessly bringing Russian/US relations “to a dead end,” adding:

Because “the atmosphere is already heated enough, I will simply say that I cannot remember anything like that” earlier.

In response to fabricated US accusations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called them “absolutely groundless and unsubstantiated.”

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov stressed that Biden is wrecking any chance for normalizing bilateral relations.

While Moscow seeks to avoid “irreversible degradation of ties,” that’s where things are heading at this time.

The US bears full responsibility for what’s going on.

Much the same is happening with Sino/US relations.

Note: Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit Beijing on March 22 and 23 — recent events surely to be a topic for discussion.

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Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).

VISIT MY WEBSITE: stephenlendman.org (Home – Stephen Lendman). Contact at [email protected].

My two Wall Street books are timely reading:

“How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion, and Class War”

https://www.claritypress.com/product/how-wall-street-fleeces-america/

“Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity”

https://www.claritypress.com/product/banker-occupation-waging-financial-war-on-humanity/

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