Senator Alexey Pushkov. Archival photo MOSCOW, January 13 The imposition of personal sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin could lead to a complete break in relations with the United States, Senator Alexei Pushkov said in an interview with Gazeta.ru. In his opinion, the adoption of restrictive measures against the Russian leadership will lead to «extremely destructive» consequences. If such a law is adopted, and even more so applied, it will be on the very brink of the most serious aggravation of relations between the United States and Russia and, possibly, even a rupture of them, «Pushkov noted. A member of the Federation Council considers the threat of new sanctions a tool that the authors of the initiative expect, will provide the White House with «a free hand in putting pressure on the Kremlin.» Also, in his opinion, in this way Washington can push Kiev to the beginning of aggression in Donbass. «And, at the same time, such support of Washington from the outside is a kind of alibi for Ukraine,» the senator concluded. Previously, a group of 25 members of the Senate from the Democratic The party led by Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee Robert Menendez presented a bill on new sanctions against Russia and Vladimir Putin and other representatives of the country's leadership, as well as financial institutions that Washington may adopt in the event of «aggravation of the situation in Ukraine.» 
Bloomberg: Europe fears new US sanctions against Russia Western media and politicians in recent months have argued that Moscow has concentrated troops on the border with Ukraine. As Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed out, Russia is moving armed forces within its territory: this does not threaten anyone and should not bother anyone. Moscow emphasized that statements about «Russian aggression» are being used as a pretext for building up the NATO contingent in the border regions. At the same time, the secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Alexei Danilov said in early January that no «large accumulation» of Russian troops was recorded in Kiev «insisted on by the media abroad.» He stressed that the military is monitoring the situation, but does not see the threat of «aggression from Russia.» 
, said Peskov
