‘Washington infected with anti-Russia virus’ – senate leader Matviyenko
Anti-Russian sanctions and visa restrictions only demonstrate a lack of professionalism by US diplomats, as it is not in the Russian mentality to give in to intimidation, the upper house chair states in a major interview.
“The people in Washington who initiate decisions are infected with an anti-Russian virus. They lack foresight because they don’t know the history of our nation, they don’t understand the mentality of our people or our traditions, they don’t know that one should never use the language of force and sanctions in talks with Russia,” Valentina Matviyenko told Izvestia daily.
She also noted that the origin of the anti-Russian sentiments of American politicians lied in the serious geo-political struggle and the desire to contain Russia’s development in the economic and social spheres as well as its growing influence in international politics.
READ MORE: Move UN HQ to neutral country, says Russian MP
“The USA wants to keep its hegemony through any available means. I have a feeling that they live in a different world, they don’t see or don’t want to see the serious transformations that are now happening in the global politics. They cannot see that no matter how much they want the world to remain unipolar it has already become multipolar.”
Matviyenko also recalled the recent incident in which she had to cancel the trip to the Fourth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament that was taking place on the UN premises in New York City because the US authorities had issued her a visa with serious restrictions.
“US representatives have made it very clear – the visa with restrictions was issued to me because of my political position. I personally see these actions as political pressure and a repression,” Matviyenko told the newspaper. “This is inadmissible, just like any sanctions applied against parliamentarians. Because the parliamentarian’s mission is to strengthen the cooperation and trust between nations.”
She also said that Russia had not initiated this new round of tensions in relations with the United States but it would continue to defend its national interests and the fundamental values of international politics – strict observation of international laws, the authority of the United Nations and the ban on interference in internal affairs of sovereign states. The former St. Petersburg governor added that despite all disagreements Russia would always support political dialogue, including the dialogue between parliaments.
“Fortunately, not all of the US Congressmen are dumbed down by anti-Russian propaganda. Some of them have recently come to St. Petersburg and met the head of the Federation Council’s committee for International Affairs, Konstantin Kosachev. In future, we will make more efforts to continue the dialogue with the US Congress,” Matviyenko said.
READ MORE: Top senator urges UN to punish nations that impose unilateral sanctions
The scandal with the restricted US visa that caused Matviyenko to cancel her trip to the NYC has drawn harsh comments and radical suggestions from Russian diplomats and lawmakers. In particular, several politicians proposed that the United Nations stop holding international forums in countries that impose unilateral sanctions.
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In addition, Russian Senator Igor Morozov has proposed to include US State Secretary John Kerry and other diplomats responsible for the situation with Matviyenko’s visa in the blacklist of US officials created in 2011 in reply to Washington’s anti-Russian sanctions.
