“Selective statements coming from Washington over the potential easing of anti-Russian sanctions is not making the Kremlin ‘wear rose-colored glasses’ since Washington is still gripped with hostility against Russia,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, according to RIA news agency.
Peskov commented on a statement by the U.S. Treasury Department on December 19 about its intention to lift sanctions against Rusal and En+ Group, companies linked to blacklisted Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska.
“Аs for the hostile displays, there are still plenty of them in Washington, in Congress, in the Senate, and in the U.S. State Department,” Peskov said.
“We are not inclined to wear rose-colored glasses and are aware that such unfriendly manifestations are still predominant, to our regret,” the Kremlin spokesman noted.
Responding to a question about the Russian tycoon’s assets, Peskov noted that “the Kremlin would actually prefer to be quite accurate in making any statements on the sanctions against Deripaska’s companies.”
“Very thorough work is underway and lets it be continued further,” the Russian presidential spokesman said.
On Tuesday, the leaders of seven House committees in the U.S. Congress called on the Trump administration to delay lifting the sanctions against those companies.
“As the chairs of committees with oversight jurisdiction over the U.S. response to Russia’s attempts to interfere in our elections and other hostile actions, we have a number of concerns about the agreement that the U.S. has reached with Mr. Deripaska,” the Democrats wrote in a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
