The administration of US President Donald Trump is actively exploiting “enemy images” to attract voters, Elena Panina, a member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, told RIA Novosti, commenting on US threats with sanctions for refusing to support restrictions against Iran.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that if Russia and China refuse to comply with the UN sanctions regime against Iran being restored by the United States, then Washington will respond with sanctions.
In an interview with RIA Novosti, Panina noted that Pompeo’s statement is unprecedentedly aggressive and is associated, on the one hand, with the upcoming presidential elections in the United States.
“In an effort to attract voters, the Trump administration is actively exploiting the” enemy images “familiar to the American audience,” Panina said.
At the same time, in her opinion, it is not worth considering Pompeo’s statements exclusively in a propaganda vein.
“The United States has long been trying not only to dictate its will to the world community, but also to replace the UN functions, to usurp its powers. In this sense, the statement of the head of the State Department continues the line that the United States has been pursuing for many years,” Panina noted.
The politician recalled that the United States behaves in this way not only with Russia, China or Iran, but also with its allies – for example, Germany.
“Acting in this way, the United States risks soon to oppose itself to the rest of the world. As for Pompeo’s statements, they harm the United States itself, depriving Washington of freedom of maneuver and the possibility of conducting a flexible foreign policy. The State Department makes America a hostage of its aggressive rhetoric,” Panina said. …