President Joe Biden punished Russia in an executive order Thursday. Now Moscow has hit back – with the promise of more to come.
Russia’s top diplomat has announced the country is expelling 10 American diplomats from the country in response to sanctions the White House imposed on the Kremlin through an executive order on Thursday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that President Joe Biden’s executive order blacklisting some of his country’s private companies and financial institutions and kicking out diplomats over alleged interference in the 2020 election would be met with an equal reaction from Moscow. Reuters reported Lavrov announced the expulsions of the U.S. government employees when speaking to reporters. He said the Kremlin was considering additional “painful” measures to strike back at Washington but did not expound on the threat. Biden’s executive order accused Russia of engaging in behavior intended to “harm” American and interests globally and domestically. “The Biden administration has been clear that the United States desires a relationship with Russia that is stable and predictable. We do not think that we need to continue on a negative trajectory,” the Biden executive order said. “However, we have also been clear — publicly and privately — that we will defend our national interests and impose costs for Russian Government actions that seek to harm us.” The Biden order accused Russian state actors of “efforts to undermine the conduct of free and fair democratic elections and democratic institutions in the United States and its allies and partners” and also accused the country of engaging in cyberattacks aimed at government institutions and individual Americans.
