US warned of diplomatic wars with Russia

Russian lawmakers have warned the United States of the creation of “diplomatic wars” if the two sides continue subjecting each others’ officials to restrictions.

“If this goes to its logic end and we start extending the lists from both sides ad infinitum, this could spark very serious diplomatic wars, which nobody needs,” RIA Novosti quoted Vyacheslav Nikonov, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma International Affairs Committee, as saying on Sunday.

The comments were made regarding the prospect of the US enacting a legislation designed to punish Russian officials allegedly involved in human rights violation.

Two petitions, which have been posted on the White House website, are asking for US sanctions against Russian lawmakers who backed a bill banning adoption of Russian children by US citizens.

“If they set limits to the entry of the State Duma or the Federation Council members, the counter measure will be banning the Congress members from entering Russia,” said Dmitry Vyatkin, the deputy head of State Duma’s Constitution and State Affairs Committee.

On December 21, State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, overwhelmingly approved a bill that bans Americans from adopting Russian children.

A vast majority of 400 out of 450 deputies in the lower house supported the Dima Yakovlev Bill, named after a two-year-old, who died of suffocation after his American adoptive father left him in a closed car in sweltering heat in 2008.