Russia will retaliate if U.S. does not release property: Lavrov

[MelissaB]

Russia will retaliate in a reciprocal manner if the United States does not heed its demands for a return of diplomatic assets, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.

"We hope that the United States, as a country which promotes the rule of law, will respect its international obligations," Lavrov told reporters after a meeting in Brussels with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

"If this does not happen, if we see that this step is not seen as essential in Washington, then of course we will take retaliatory measures. This is the law of diplomacy, the law of international affairs, that reciprocity is the basis of all relations."

He declined to answer when asked if that meant that Russia would expel U.S. diplomats and seize diplomatic property.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-usa-lavrov-respect-idUSKBN19W2AG?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FworldNews+%28Reuters+World+News%29

[TBA]

1. So this Don Jr. stuff is a shot over the bow?

[Eliot Rosewater]

2. We have been at war with Russia for sometime now, hopefully he wont kill too

many of us when he takes over completely. He being Putin.

[Moostache]

3. Burn them to the ground...

Sorry Vlad...there was too much electrical wiring in the properties that shorted out and burned the places down...very unfortunate, quite sad really. Try putting your people up in Trump...er, Putin Tower instead...

[briv1016]

4. Come on pee tape.

[MelissaB]

11. Is that's what it's going to take?

The pee pee tape?

[rufus dog]

5. I had the thought earlier that Vlad didn't get EVERYTHING he wanted in Germany

So he was behind the original leaks to send a message to tRump. If that is the case then we are in a world of hurt.

[Squinch]

6. They're trying very hard to distract from the story of the day.

[BamaRefugee]

7. This is all part of the Kabuki Theater

that tRump and Pooti-Poo are playing out.

Think in terms of the choreography of professional wrestling. This is it, only taking place in Oval Offices rather than squared canvas rings.

[spanone]

8. Trump Admin. Lobbied Lawmakers to Weaken Russia Sanctions.....he's trying vlad, he's really tryin'

Trump administration officials huddled privately on Capitol Hill last week as part of a bid to weaken legislation that would slap new sanctions on Russia and Iran, The Daily
Beast has learned.

A top Treasury Department official met with House leadership staffers and committee aides last Thursday to discuss changing a key component of the Senate bill which was sent to the House for approval after a procedural violation stalled it for weeks, two congressional aides with knowledge of the meeting told The Daily Beast.

The official, John E. Smith, the director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control and a career official in the Treasury Department, which oversees the implementation of foreign sanctions, met last Thursday with staff from the offices of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, as well as the Foreign Affairs and Financial Services committees.
Representatives for Pelosi, McCarthy and Hoyer did not respond to requests for comment.

“The net effect of the changes [the Trump administration] wants would certainly weaken one of the legislation’s most important components,” the aide said.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-admin-lobbied-lawmakers-to-weaken-russia-sanctions

[3catwoman3]

9. And here I thought Donnie and Pootie...

...were besties. This doesn't sound very friendly.

[ProudLib72]

10. Since the GOP controls the country

I read this as a threat against the GOP only. Come on Pootie, let's have a major intel dump. (Do you suppose that, before they put the pee tape out there, they will censor tRump's grape and two raisins?)