-Russia “strikes back”
Sanctions against Russia were once again the main topic in Russia last week. The U.S. Congress approved the new round of sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, July 25, which now only needs the signature of U.S. President Donald Trump’s to come into effect. While Trump is seen as a “Russia-friendly” president, many believe that he will approve the new sanctions to quell criticism.
Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the U.S.’ decision the following day, July 26. He accused the U.S. of using sanctions as a tool to gain a geopolitical and economical advantage over Russia and added that Russia’s “patience” on the sanctions was running out.
Russia’s patience did run out on Friday. According to the statement from Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russia requested that the U.S. reduce their diplomatic staff in Russia to 455 - the same number of Russian diplomatic personnel in the U.S.
While the global media was trying to figure out how many U.S. diplomatic staff are working in Russia, Putin made another statement on Sunday and said that U.S. would have to reduce their personnel by 755.
It is uncertain whether the U.S. will see Russia’s new step as a reason to impose new sanctions on the country, but it is obvious that Trump’s optimism over Russian diplomacy is fast fading.
Russian Central Bank keeps rates unchanged
Russian Central Bank decided to keep its annual interest rates at 9 percent on Friday.
The statement from the bank read that while economic activities in the country continued to improve, inflation risks still remained.
The bank also stated that growth of the Russian economy is expected to be between 1.3 and 1.8 percent for 2017.