Russian officials and diplomats criticized the sanctions imposed by Washington on Moscow, describing them as a new hostile step by the administration of outgoing President Donald Trump, but they stressed that they do not expect "anything good" from the next US administration.
Last Monday, the US Treasury Department imposed Russia’s sanctions, which included the intelligence service, companies linked to the military establishment, 9 industrial companies in the field of aviation, and Russian citizens, due to what Washington considered involvement in activities against its interests, national security and international politics.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "The recent US sanctions on Russia are a new hostile step on the part of the outgoing administration in Washington."
Peskov stressed that the sanctions approach makes it difficult for Moscow and Washington to recover from the deterioration that is detrimental to their relations.
In turn, Sergey Ryabkov, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, confirmed today, Wednesday, that Moscow does not expect "anything good" from the next US President Joe Biden, considering that his foreign policy will be directed at fear of Russia.
Ryabkov said to the Russian news agency "Interfax", "We do not expect anything good, this is clear. It would be strange to expect something good from people, many of whom built their careers on Russiaphobia by pouring evil on my country."
Ryabkov's statement comes after a new tension between the two countries over a massive cyber attack on the United States, attributed to Moscow.
Ryabkov is in charge of the file of relations with the Americas and limiting the spread of weapons, especially nuclear weapons, and at this stage he is still one of the main interlocutors of the US State Department.
He said that with regard to all matters, there should be a policy of complete containment of the United States, in all directions, because the US policy towards Russia is deeply hostile.
The Russian official considered that the ball was in the court of the United States to revive bilateral relations, and that Russia had no intention of "starting contacts with Biden's transitional team."
Ryabkov stressed that the outgoing US administration leaves a "heavy legacy", as it imposed many sanctions on Russia, especially against the background of information piracy and interference in the 2016 presidential elections.
"Everything is going from bad to worse," he said. "That was characteristic of the past four years, and we have no feeling that this trend will change."
For his part, the Russian Ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, described the recent sanctions on his country as unconstructive, destroying the remaining economic relations between the United States and Russia, and impeding any positive prospects for relations between the two countries.
These statements come a few hours after US President-elect Joe Biden pledged to respond to the cyber attack attributed to Russia, which targeted his country, criticizing the outgoing President Donald Trump, who was accused of doing nothing.
The hacking campaign, which was revealed last week, has penetrated at least 6 government agencies, putting the data of thousands of American companies at risk.
Unlike many political officials - and some of them inside his government - Trump played down the scale of this attack, as well as Russia's potential responsibility for it.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said it was apparently implemented by the Russian government.
Also, Justice Minister William Barr - who will leave the government soon - announced that Moscow was behind the operation.