Russia-US Ties Being at Very Low Level 'Bad Signal' - Upper House Speaker

Relations between Russia and the United States are at a very low level, but Russia still hopes for a mutually respectful dialogue on bilateral and international issues, Russian upper house speaker Valentina Matvienko said Wednesday while commenting on the US decision to impose sanctions against a number of Russian defense industry enterprises.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Saturday, the United States imposed sanctions on eight Russian companies over the Nonproliferation Act (INKSNA) in connection with the Iran, North Korea and Syria.

The relations are "at a very low level… this is a very bad signal," Matvienko said, but added that Russia "hopes for a mutually respectful dialogue with the US on issues of the bilateral and international agenda."

The United States imposed sanctions on 150th Aircraft Repair Plant, Aviaexport, Bazalt, Kolomna Design Bureau of Machine-Building (KBM), Rosoboronexport (ROE), Ulyanovsk Higher Aviation Academy of Civil Aviation (UVAUGA), Ural Training Center for Civil Aviation (UUTsCA), Zhukovskiy and Gagarin Academy (Z&G Academy).