Following the Trump administration's closure of Russia's consulates in the U.S., in retaliation for Russia's expulsion and firing of 700 U.S. consular employees there, Moscow had a curious response to the matter: it pinned the blame on President Obama. According to state media organ RT News, citing Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov: All of the "exchange of sanction moves" were initiated by the Obama administration to undermine relations and hinder the incoming president from changing the situation for the better, Lavrov said. The recent sanctions against Russia imposed by the US in the beginning of the month were designed to undermine the Trump administration, according to the foreign minister, as Trump himself wants to normalize relations. "[After the meeting of the Russian and US presidents] it has become clearer that President Trump is interested in normalization of relations with Russia, as he repeatedly stated after the...(Read Full Post)