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Worldwide
pti-PTI
Moscow,
Feb
26:
Moscow
could
reply
to
Western
sanctions
by
opting
out
of
the
final
nuclear
arms
deal
with
the
US,
reducing
diplomatic
ties
with
Western
nations
and
freezing
their
belongings,
a
senior
Russian
official
warned
Saturday
as
Russia’s
ties
with
the
West
dived
to
new
lows
over
its
invasion
of
Ukraine.
Dmitry
Medvedev,
the
deputy
head
of
Russia’s
Safety
Council
chaired
by
President
Vladimir
Putin,
additionally
warned
that
Moscow
may
restore
the
demise
penalty
after
it
was
eliminated
from
Europe’s
prime
rights
group.
The
sanctions
positioned
new
tight
restrictions
on
Russian
monetary
operations,
imposed
a
draconian
ban
on
expertise
exports
to
Russia
and
froze
the
belongings
of
Putin
and
his
international
minister,
a
harsh
response
that
dwarfed
earlier
Western
restrictions.
Washington
and
its
allies
say
that
even
more durable
sanctions
are
attainable,
together with
kicking
Russia
out
of
SWIFT,
the
dominant
system
for
world
monetary
transactions.
In
sarcastic
feedback
posted
on
a
Russian
social
platform,
Medvedev
dismissed
the
sanctions
as
a
present
of
Western
“political
impotence”
that
will
solely
consolidate
the
Russian
management
and
foment
anti-Western
emotions.
“We
are
being
pushed
out
of
all over the place,
punished
and
threatened,
however
we
do not
really feel
scared,”
he
mentioned,
mocking
the
sanctions
imposed
by
the
U.S.
and
its
allies
as
an
try
to
vindicate
their
previous
“shameful
choices,
like
a
cowardly
retreat
from
Afghanistan.”
Medvedev
was
placeholder
president
in
2008-2012
when
Putin
had
to
shift
into
the
prime
minister’s
seat
as a result of
of
time period
limits.
He
then
let
Putin
reclaim
the
presidency
and
served
as
his
prime
minister
for
eight
years.
Throughout
his
tenure
as
president,
Medvedev
was
broadly
seen
as
extra
liberal
in contrast
with
Putin,
however
on
Saturday
he
made
a
sequence
of
threats
that
even
the
most
hawkish
Kremlin
figures
have not
talked about
to
date.
Medvedev
famous
that
the
sanctions
provide
the
Kremlin
a
pretext
to
fully
assessment
its
ties
with
the
West,
suggesting
that
Russia
may
decide
out
of
the
New
START
nuclear
arms
management
treaty
that
limits
the
U.S.
and
Russian
nuclear
arsenals.
The
treaty,
which
Medvedev
signed
in
2010
with
then-U.S.
President
Barack
Obama,
limits
every
nation
to
no
extra
than
1,550
deployed
nuclear
warheads
and
700
deployed
missiles
and
bombers,
and
envisages
sweeping
on-site
inspections
to
confirm
compliance.
The
pact,
the
final
remaining
U.S.-Russian
nuclear
arms
management
settlement,
had
been
set
to
expire
in
February
2021
however
Moscow
and
Washington
prolonged
it
for
one other
5
years.
If
Russia
opts
out
of
the
settlement
now,
it
will
take away
any
checks
on
U.S.
and
Russian
nuclear
forces
and
increase
new
threats
to
world
safety.
Medvedev
additionally
raised
the
prospect
of
reducing
diplomatic
ties
with
Western
nations,
charging
that
“there
is
no
specific
want
in
sustaining
diplomatic
relations”
and
including
that
“we
could
look
at
every
different
in
binoculars
and
gunsights.”
Referring
to
Western
threats
to
freeze
the
belongings
of
Russian
firms
and
people,
Medvedev
warned
that
Moscow
would not
hesitate
to
do
the
similar.
“We
would
want
to
reply
in
variety
by
freezing
the
belongings
of
foreigners
and
international
firms
in
Russia
…
and
presumably
by
nationalizing
the
belongings
of
these
who
come
from
unfriendly
jurisdictions,”
he
mentioned.
“The
most
fascinating
issues
are
solely
beginning
now.”
Commenting
on
the
Council
of
Europe’s
transfer
Friday
to
droop
Russia’s
illustration
in
Europe’s
main
human
rights
group,
Medvedev
contemptuously
described
it
as
one
of
“ineffective
nursing
properties”
that
Russia
mistakenly
joined.
He
added
that
it
gives
“a
good
alternative”
to
restore
the
demise
penalty
for
grave
crimes,
noting
that
the
United
States
and
China
have
by no means
stopped
utilizing
it.
Moscow
has
maintained
a
moratorium
on
capital
punishment
as
half
of
its
obligations
since
it
joined
the
Council
of
Europe
in
1996,
and
Medvedev’s
assertion
shocked
the
nation’s
rights
defenders
and
activists.
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