Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that his country has, so far, exercised “restraint and patience” as U.S. lawmakers scramble to increase sanctions against his country.  But, as former Congressman Ron Paul has said, sanctions are an act of war because they’re designed to turn populations against their governments via outside pressure. The intended result isn’t something the Russian president is willing to let happen.
Putin made his comments at a news conference as the U.S. Senate prepared to pass sanctions legislation, which already sailed through the House, which would make it impossible for President Donald Trump to weaken any sanctions on Russia without congressional approval. It would also put into place new sanctions supporters say will limit human trafficking, human rights abuses and corruption.
“We are behaving in a very restrained and patient way, but at some moment we will need to respond,” said Putin.
Many of the sanctions under consideration, however, had no other purpose than damaging the Russian economy as much as possible.
“It’s impossible to endlessly tolerate this kind of insolence towards our country,” Putin added. “This practice is unacceptable – it destroys international relations and international law.”
The Senate passed the measure by the end of the day Thursday. It’s now awaiting Presidet Donald Trump’s signature.
But it’s not just the new sanctions that have the Russian leader’s ire.
Before President Barack spent his last day in the White House, he unilaterally expelled 34 Russian diplomats and intensified already harsh sanctions on the U.S.’s Cold War foe.
Putin contends that Obama’s actions are proof that the anti-Russian news coverage following the election was part of a planned U.S. political plot.
“It’s a great pity that Russian-US relations are being sacrificed to resolve questions of domestic politics,” he said, later calling allegations against Trump “hysteria.