A senior Russian official believes the Trump administration has ‘tougher policies’ in place regarding Moscow than Barack Obama, saying the President has a harsher stance towards the Kremlin than his liberal predecessor.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov spoke with Kremlin-backed state-run news agency Tass on Monday, where he accused the Trump administration of taking a hardline against Moscow.
“As for foreign policy, I am disappointed and have to state that in many respects this is a continuation of the worst of [Barack] Obama’s legacy, even a tougher policy in some aspects, directions, the rhetoric and the political line, which caused problems in relations with us and problems in Washington’s relations with other countries at the final stage of the previous administration’s tenure,” the Minister said.
“I hope that things won’t come to a confrontation,” he added. “We will work to minimize the damage from what has been done.”
Last week, the President signed in to law a sweeping set of sanctions aimed to punish Russia for meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
The Foreign Minister’s comments come as democrats and the liberal media continue to accuse the President of “colluding” with Russian officials during the 2016 presidential race, saying the Trump campaign actively worked with the Kremlin to sway the election in his favor.