A nation must think before it acts.
The arrival of Russia’s new ambassador to the United States, former deputy minister of defense Anatoly Antonov, happened to coincide with the latest round of the U.S.-Russia sanctions tennis match. Responding to Moscow’s expulsion of U.S. diplomats and closure of U.S. consulates—which the Kremlin claimed was in response to the passage of new sanctions legislation on Russia, which Congress maintains was a necessary response to Russian attempts to influence the U.S. elections, which Russian politicians either deny responsibility for or maintain that the United States has interfered in domestic Russian politics—the U.S. State Department has moved to equalize the number of U.S. and Russian diplomatic personnel and ordered the closure of Russian facilities. The most notable facility in question is Moscow’s traditional listening post to Silicon Valley in San Francisco. Immediately after receiving the U.S. demand, the Russian Foreign Ministry predictably released a statement that promised that after careful study, Moscow would announce its reaction.
While some are predicting that the game of tit-for-tat will continue, with further expulsions of U.S. diplomats on the agenda—which would almost guarantee an American response—one must also examine whether Moscow is prepared to stop the pendulum. Upon his arrival in the United States, when asked about a Russian response, Antonov, citing Vladimir Lenin, maintained that Moscow will “sort this out calmly” and will eschew any “hysterical outbursts.”