The Russian government announced Friday that it would expel 10 US diplomats and ban eight current and former US officials from entering the country, in what it said was retaliation for a long-awaited series of sanctions issued by the Biden administration on Thursday.
Officials banning Moscow include Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, FBI Director Chris Wray, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Director of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Director of the US Domestic Policy Council Susan Rice, and Director of the US Federal Bureau. or Prisons Michael Carvajal, according to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The list also includes US officials who have left the administration – President Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, and former Central Intelligence director R. James Woolsey, who served in the Clinton administration.
Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said at a news conference that Moscow would also impose restrictions on the activities of US non-governmental organizations on its territory, calling Washington’s actions “hostile” and “unprovoked.”
However, the relatively measured response suggested that Russia was responding to President Biden’s repeated calls to avoid “a cycle of escalation and conflict.”
In public comments at the White House on Thursday, President Biden said he “chose to be proportional” in an effort to forge a “stable and predictable” relationship with Moscow. Mr Biden said he told the Russian president that their direct communication was “essential” and proposed a personal summit in a European country this summer.
“Our teams are currently discussing that option,” said Mr Biden.
The administration announced this on Thursday economic sanctions about 32 individuals and entities in response to Russian actions he said were “against US sovereignty and interests,” including Moscow’s interference in the 2020 presidential election. It expelled 10 Russian officials from Washington, DC, wrote the espionage campaign of the United States. SolarWinds formally entrusts the SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence agency, with an enhanced cyber defense partnership with Western allies.
In a public testimony before the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday, US intelligence officials said Russia likely expected a response. Haines testified that there was “likely to be some amount of tit for tat,” but said the intelligence community had ruled that Moscow did not want a direct conflict with the US.
Lt. General Scott Berrier, the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, testified that the build-up of military forces along the Ukrainian border and in Crimea had enabled Moscow to launch a limited attack, although the intentions remained unclear.
“They have put themselves in a position of giving them options,” he said. “If they choose to retaliate in whatever way, they have a number of different armed forces in Crimea and Ukraine that they can pull out of and do something like send a message to Ukraine to the United States or to NATO alliance. ”