MOSCOW. April 15 (Interfax) - The newly-announced United States sanctions on Russia devalue the constructive tone of the recent telephone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden and complicate the prospects for a meeting between them, which was earlier proposed by the U.S. itself, Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee head Leonid Slutsky said.
"These restrictions have become yet another and a very serious step toward degradation of Russian-American relations. Against this backdrop, as Kremlin representatives have said before, it's hard to talk about prospects for a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden," Slutsky told journalists on Thursday.
"Washington's new sanctions announced just a few days following a telephone call between the presidents of Russia and the U.S. in fact devalue the constructive tone of that conversation," he said.