“We Will Take Extreme Measures,” Russia Answers the United States

In anticipation of the upcoming meeting between Russian and American presidents Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama, tensions in bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington continue to grow. The two countries’ diplomats continue to clash over Syria, and the ensuing controversy has emerged as a new excuse for confrontation.

Last week, the House of the United States Congress passed the so-called “Magnistky Law,” which would place diplomatic and financial sanctions on a number of Russian officials who were both directly and indirectly connected to the arrest, abuse and death of Hermitage Capital Investment Fund lawyer Sergei Magnitsy, as well as those who, according to the legislation, “participated in efforts to conceal the legal liability” of and those whom “financially benefited” from Magnistky’s imprisonment and eventual death. In addition, the final list may include other citizens of the Russian Federation who the American government believes to be responsible for deaths, tortures and injustices committed against anti-corruption and human rights advocates.

After approving the bill, the House of Representatives passed it along to the Senate. Many senators have already stated their support for the law, and if the legislation is passed in the Senate, President Obama will have to sign the bill into law, regardless of his personal opinions on the matter. Indeed, many international affairs experts have no doubt that the legislation will be passed.

In Russia, these political developments have been very negatively received. On June 15, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov announced that if the United States Congress were to pass Magnitsky’s Law, Russia would take strict retaliatory measures against the United States.

“If something that glaring happens, Moscow’s reaction will be all-inclusive, multi-dimensional and extremely strict, but we must see how the situation will play out. We hope that the worst will not happen,” Ryabkov said. According to him, the American legislators’ desire to apply sanctions to citizens of the Russian Federation constitutes an interference with Moscow’s internal affairs.

“The ‘Magnistky List’ is an example of America’s unacceptable extraterritorial laws. Whether the legislation involves sanctions or the total confiscation of property, it totally undermines the foundations of international law,” Ryabkov said.

To back up his claims, Ryabkov brought up the 2010 capture and detention of Russian “cocaine pilot” Konstantin Yaroshenko in Africa by United States Special Forces. Last September, Yaroshenko was sentenced to 20 years in an American prison.

“This will not be tolerated. In the face of repeated attempts by the United States to demonstrate claims of human rights violations in Russia, we will do our best to answer and disprove these accusations. We are very alarmed and concerned by what we perceive is going on here, and if everything continues to move in this direction, it seems inevitable that we will adopt a series of retaliatory measures with negative implications for the whole complex of Russian-American relations,” Ryabkov added.

Ryabkov did not specify how exactly Russia will respond to the American sanctions. They will mostly likely come down to reciprocal visa and financial restrictions on a number of American officials who, in the opinion of the government of the Russian Federation, are also privy to humanitarian crimes. That being said, it is worth noting that American citizens do not keep their money in Russian banks, and they visit Russia rarely, if at all. Ultimately, any sanctions Moscow will declare will be purely declarative, without any of the muscle that similar American laws would have.