Putin says new US sanctions on Russia are ‘senseless’

Russian President Vladimir Putin has labelled the latest US sanctions imposed by Washington as “counterproductive and senseless”.

Mr Putin, speaking after a meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, said that his meeting last month with US President Donald Trump was positive, but laid blame on the Trump administration for continued sanctions on Russia.

The remarks followed after the Trump administration placed more sanctions on Russia, adding two companies and two individuals to economic blacklists for allegedly trying to circumvent American sanctions that were imposed in June in response to cyberattacks.

Mr Putin noted that “it's not just the position of the US president, but that of the so-called establishment, the ruling class in the broad sense of the word which matters.”

He said the US restrictions are “counterproductive and senseless, especially against such country as Russia,” adding that Moscow expects Washington to engage in constructive cooperation.

The Trump administration also sanctioned two Russian shipping companies that it suspects have traded with North Korea in spite of restrictions on doing so.

While Mr Trump himself has called for better relations with Moscow, American politicians have pushed for aggressive steps to punish Russia for its bad behaviour, which in US eyes includes its meddling in the 2016 US elections, the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, and Russian military involvement in Syria.

While Mr Trump generally receives support from Republicans in Congress on a range of matters, a bipartisan group of politicians has criticised the president for his perceived cosy relationship with Mr Putin in the aftermath of the meeting last month between the two leaders when the US president appeared to side with Russian claims over American intelligence sources.

In meetings Tuesday in Washington, politicians presented a rare unified front in saying that Russia’s behaviour warranted the new sanctions against Russia.

“It’s not often that Congress acts together in such a strong manner,” Senator Mike Crapo, the Republican chairman of the Banking Committee overseeing sanctions policy, said. “But then, Russia is a menace on so many different levels, today, that Congress can be compelled to act with a single voice”.

Democratic Senator Bob Menendez said that Congress has the responsibility to impose sanctions because the president appears more inclined to be accommodating of Russia than tough.

“We’re told to judge the administration by its actions and not the president’s words, but these actions seem to be more aligned with the president’s accommodating and disturbing rhetoric than a tougher approach to the Kremlin,” Mr Menendez said.