Washington Threatened Russia with "Costs and Consequences" for Actions against the United States

Secretary Blinken stressed that to protect American interests, necessary measures will be taken US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Russia would face "costs and consequences" for malicious acts against the United States. “We will take the necessary steps to safeguard our interests,” Blinken said in an interview with CNN that aired on Sunday but was recorded earlier, following Blinken’s talks with other NATO diplomats in Brussels. What unites Western allies, he said, is a "shared commitment" to take a realistic view of Moscow's actions and hold the Kremlin accountable. The head of US diplomacy said officials are "in the process" of examining possible Washington sanctions against Moscow and are consulting other NATO countries on this matter. “We are stronger when we can do it in coordination with each other,” he said. Although the US and Russia quickly agreed to renew START III, which expired shortly after US President Joe Biden took office, the US blames Russia for other actions, including alleged awards for the killings of American soldiers in Afghanistan, election interference, and hacking of American computer systems. Blinken's interview echoed those of Biden, who took a tougher stance toward Russia than his predecessor, Donald Trump. In an interview with ABC News two weeks ago, Biden said he considered Russian President Vladimir Putin a "killer." "You will soon see what the price he will pay," Biden said at the time, adding that there are areas in which the two countries work together is in their common interests. “That's why I extended [START III] with them. It happened while he was doing this,” Biden said, clearly pointing to Putin's efforts to meddle in elections. Russia has denied interfering in elections and arranging any cyberattack on US tech company SolarWinds to infiltrate US government networks. In addition, she rejected reports of bounties for the US military in Afghanistan and attempts to poison Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. US intelligence analysts have concluded that Putin may have been directing efforts to help Trump get re-elected to a second term. It is not known what actions Biden is considering towards Russia, but he may apply several restrictive measures, including freezing the assets of any entities that become known to have directly or indirectly interfered in elections or participated in "cyber" activities that threaten US national security ... In addition, the 1991 law allows the US President to prohibit American banks from providing loans to a country that used chemical weapons, which is believed to have been committed by the Russian authorities in relation to Alexei Navalny.