Sanctions Without Borders: Russia, Venezuela, and China Should Prepare

The State Department called Moscow's decision to equalize the number of diplomatic mission employees "an unjustified act." The former US Ambassador, Michael McFaul, is already threatening Russians with month-long waits for US visas. The US embassy does not exclude that the consular activity can really slow down.

However, experts in US note that Washington risks turning the new round of its sanctions war on itself. Our special correspondent in the US, Alexander Khristenko, reporting. Vladimir Putin is again on the cover of the US Time magazine for the eighth time. And now the image is composed of Internet user icons.

Russia is again accused of hacking interference in the US elections. Meanwhile, the DOS is studying how the unprecedented reduction in US embassy and consular personnel announced by Moscow will affect the work of the diplomatic mission, and are thinking how to react.

Measures taken by Moscow are called "unjustified" in the US. News Alert: Russia's harsh response to Congress's approval of the sanction bill. The total number of diplomats and technical staff should be reduced by 755 people. How many Americans will go home is still unclear. In any case, the US is given the right to choose how many diplomats or support personnel will remain: secretaries, drivers.

The total number of US diplomatic mission workers will equal the Russian ones in the US. In such conditions Americans won't be able to work as before, predicts the former Ambassador McFaul. If these reductions are real, Russians should be prepared to wait for visas to the US for weeks, and even months. Moscow's measures are in response to the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats, the closing of embassy complexes, and the new bill of anti-Russian sanctions. The document has not yet been signed, but if it passes, it can harm the US itself.

So thinks a Russian expert, professor of Georgetown University, Angela Stent. The US sanctions bill, designed to harm Russia, can lead to unforeseen consequences for the US itself. In its current version, the bill will affect not only Russia but also US and European businesses because of restrictions on energy projects involving Russian companies. Washington also found other sanction candidates. It threatens Venezuela for undermining democracy. Caracas can be cut off from supplies of crude oil, which they use to dilute their own high density oil.

According to a Politico publication, Trump's advisers are preparing economic sanctions against China. Trump posted on Twitter that he is extremely disappointed that Beijing, in his opinion, is inactive and isn't helping to solve the North Korean problem. Mr. President, what do you intend to do with North Korea? We'll handle North Korea, it will be handled. US generals are reporting that they are ready to use against North Korea fast, deadly, and crushing force. Sanctions or military strikes, a third option, for example the art of diplomacy, is not mentioned. As a result, the problems that Washington is trying to resolve only get worse.