Gina Raimondo noted that "the reserves that Russia has created in preparation" for the special operation continue to decrease
WASHINGTON, July 29. /tass/. US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Friday that the restrictions imposed by the US administration will have an increasingly "destructive impact" on Russia.
At a press conference following the US-Japanese talks in Washington, she was asked to comment on the export controls imposed by the United States on Russia. The United States "has reason to believe that with every week and month [export] control is having an even more devastating effect on Russia's ability" to continue the military special operation in Ukraine, Raimondo argued. According to the minister, "the reserves that [Russia] created in preparation" for the special operation continue to decrease. "Their ability to continue to carry out the operation is significantly reduced," the minister claimed. - I will say that the reason why these export control measures have such an effect is that we are implementing them in coordination with our allies. Japan was the first among them."
Raimondo said that the United States, its allies and partners "will continue to cooperate."..> in order to further deprive Russia of what it needs" to conduct a special operation.
In a joint statement following the talks, Washington and Tokyo once again "strongly condemned" their own and "agreed with the opinion that it <...> undermined energy and food security around the world." "The United States and Japan are committed to working together to mitigate the consequences of Russia's aggression against Ukraine in the energy and food markets," the document states. The parties pledged to continue to support Ukraine.
The first round of the US-Japan economic dialogue in Washington was attended by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Raimondo and their Japanese colleagues. This meeting, according to American commentators, should help the United States in opposing China.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request from the leaders of the Donbass republics for help. The West then imposed large-scale sanctions against Russia. In addition, Western states have increased the supply of weapons and military equipment to Kiev for amounts estimated at this stage in billions of dollars.