Vladimir Putin doesn’t have his puppet to laugh at and chat with on the phone at will. Now he’s got Joe Biden, who called him a “killer” last month, and that led to the recall of Russian ambassador Anatoly Antonov. Today, tensions escalated even further, and Putin expelled American diplomats and created a blacklist, all in reaction to Biden’s sanctions. Washington Post:
The Foreign Ministry released the list of people banned from entry into Russia including [Susan] Rice, a former ambassador the United Nations and now head of the Domestic Policy Council, and [John] Bolton, who was dismissed as national security adviser by then president Donald Trump in 2019.
Others included Attorney General Merrick Garland, director of U.S. National Intelligence, the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the Homeland Security chief after earlier U.S. sanctions on Russian officials in similar posts. R. James Woolsey, former CIA director, was also named.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow would also stop activities of American organizations and funds that it finds “interfere” in its affairs.
But he said Russia would refrain from imposing “painful measures” against American companies, keeping that option in reserve.
Lavrov said presidential aide Yuri Ushakov called on the U.S. ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, to return to Washington “for consultations there.” The Foreign Ministry said, given the “extremely tense” situation, both ambasadors should be in their home capitals for consultations.
As Donald Trump would say, “it is what it is.” It probably didn’t do relations between the two countries any good when yesterday’s bombshell exploded, proving that the Trump campaign did have direct dealings with Russia during the 2016 presidential election. Poor Vladimir, now he has to deal with an adult that isn’t indebted to him nor in fawning awe of him.
He’s just huffing, playing with a weak hand of cards and doing his best to make the oligarchs feel friendly enough not to kill him next week.
HA! I would love to believe that.
Me too, but his power over his country via the Kremlin and I’m sure he owns files on everyone living there that might stand up to him, like in North Korea, there is not one word against the der leader that escapes fatal punishment … SO, Putin needs to be closely monitored by top intelligence on our part, Biden will make the best decisions he can, I believe, in spite of Republican interference, Biden’s secretaries and military Top Guns will provide the guidance he needs … NOT a bunch of YES people without a clue …
What did Trump actually do for Putin, other than give him a free ride to do the dirty in other countries with always a bravado attitude in his praise for Putin …
Probably laundered millions maybe a billion in Russian cash for his failing golf resorts …
I believe that the spectacle of attacking Russian poison gas systems in Syria was sabotaged by a red phone call to Putin … why were all the canisters removed and the modified gas-releasing jets not on site, while-we-the-tax-payers payed for launching millions of dollars worth of cruse missiles to a virtually vacant airstrip?
Trump blabbed top secret info directly to Russian agents to show his powers of his office … NOT!!
Trump’s lame game plan has always been for him and no one else … Putin played him like the old fool he was and still is …
Biden’s fresh air systems of providing communications and transparency to the masses, befuddles the GOP because everything evil about the Republicans has been staged, by the likes of good old McConnell, and others behind those boiler room doors in a cloud of expensive cigar smoke and evil minds …
The lack-luster failing GOP has nothing new out there, no plans no new ideas, just fumble everything Biden and the Dems want to accomplish … could be a cue to Putin to re-structure his hack attacks and generate new lies to inflame the Trump do-wrongs … Trump’s attack on our Capitol showed there are many cattle and sheep people willing to do terrible things for a person, least able to lead and protect our Country …