ALEXANDER DERYUGIN: US SANCTIONS AGAINST THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AS AN INSTRUMENT OF FIGHTING FOR VOTES

Alexander Deryugin, Researcher of the Budget Policy Department, Gaidar Institute believes that the US may resort to anti-Russian sanctions after the launch of the election campaign. The expert shared his views on that with the Izvestia daily.

“Washington may resume the sanction rhetoric in respect to Russia after the start of the election campaign in the US. It can become an instrument of fighting for votes as it happened in the previous political cycle. However, the US has no serious grounds for introducing sanctions against Russia”, Alexander Deryugin believes.

In his view, “the more substantial risk for the Russian economy is restrictions against China. The issue who is responsible for the outspread of the coronavirus will become the main instrument of the election campaign. Sanctions against China can happen to be unprecedentedly tough and this situation, in its turn, may hit the Russian economy because Beijing is our main trade partner. Restrictions may become an instrument of fighting for votes.”