Russian MFA: Sanctions were imposed on McFaul because he had caused 'deliberate detriment' to bilateral relations
Former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul was included on the Russian sanctions list because he had caused deliberate harm to relations between Moscow and Washington, as stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, on the air of the television station Russia-1, RBC reported.
She explained that McFaul’s proximity to the current US president, Barack Obama, was not the reason why he was put on the sanctions list, although he conjectured the opposite.
“We just did not know about the proximity, but it is irrelevant anyway. The true reason is the deliberate detriment to our bilateral relations,” Zakharova noted.
According to her, McFaul is a person “who deliberately spoiled bilateral relations.” She specified that the inclusion of the former ambassador in the list was “a retaliatory and reflexive measure.”
McFaul communicated that he fell under the sanctions on Friday, November 11. In his Twitter account, he wrote, “I was told that I appeared on the Kremlin’s sanctions list because of my close ties with the US president Barack Obama.”
Later, a source in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that McFaul came under sanctions for his “active participation in the destruction of bilateral relations.” Then, a reporter from the news agency also specified that the measure was “mirror reflexive” and stated that McFaul knew that he was blacklisted.
Michael McFaul was the US ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014. Prior to that, McFaul worked for the US National Security Council as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of Russian and Eurasian Affairs. McFaul explained his resignation in February 2014 as being related to family circumstances. However, in an interview with Kommersant it was noted that he “was no ordinary ambassador.”
In April 2016 Maria Zakharova called McFaul an “anti-example” of an ambassador’s behavior.