MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Since 2014, relations between Russia and the United States deteriorated amid the crisis in Ukraine. Washington and its allies have introduced several rounds of anti-Russia sanctions over Moscow's alleged involvement in the Ukrainian conflict, which the Kremlin has denied.
"I think we need to take a deep breath about how often we turn to sanctions because, first of all, they run out of their efficacy after a while, but secondly, we really start to use our financial weight in the global system to achieve geopolitical ends. Someday an adversary is going to say, hey, guess what, if you think the financial system is the battlefield, we’re gonna fight you on the battlefield," Chertoff said.
On October 21, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that the United States and its partners would continue to discuss economic sanctions against Russia over the situation in Syria.
The West blames Moscow and Damascus over alleged bombings of civilian population and armed opposition groups in Syria. Russia and the Syrian government dismiss the accusations, insisting that they only strike terrorist positions, while blaming the United States of their inability to differentiate between so-called "moderate opposition" and terrorists.
