Russian FM calls Sessions uproar a replay of McCarthyism

Russia today decried the uproar in the United States over Attorney General Jeff Sessions' meetings with the Russian ambassador as a replay of McCarthyism, voicing regret over the lack of any substantive dialogue with Washington.
Sessions recused himself yesterday from any investigation into communications between aides to President Donald Trump and Moscow following revelations that as senator, Sessions twice spoke with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 election campaign and failed to say so when pressed by Congress.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov argued that contacts with officials and lawmakers are part of any ambassador's duties. He added that the pressure on Sessions "strongly resembles a witch hunt or the times of McCarthyism, which we thought were long over in the United States as a civilised country."

In the 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy led a hunt for purported communist infiltrators in the US government, often involving unfounded accusations.
Trump blamed Democrats for the controversy in a statement last night, "They lost the election and now, they have lost their grip on reality. The real story is all of the illegal leaks of classified and other information. It is a total witch hunt!"
At a news conference, Lavrov said Russia isn't going to mimic the US, but added that "if we applied the same principle to Ambassador (John) Tefft's activities in Russia and his contacts, it would have made quite a funny picture."

In a sarcastic Facebook post, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said she met Tefft in the ministry's lobby and warned him that he was putting himself in danger by meeting with Russian diplomats.

Asked to comment on the situation, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, cited the US leader: "We have nothing to add to the expansive definition given by President Trump."
The Sessions case is widely seen in Moscow as part of efforts by Trump's foes to block any possible rapprochement with Moscow. Russia-US ties plummeted to their lowest level since the Cold War times during Barack Obama's presidency over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and other issues.

Trump had come into office hoping to mend ties with Russia, expressing admiration for Putin.
Russian lawmakers and political commentators said the allegations by US intelligence that Russia meddling in the election to help Trump defeat Hillary Clinton will likely continue to weigh over his administration and prevent it from launching a meaningful dialogue with the Kremlin any time soon.