US Congress passes Russian sanctions bill

The US House of Representatives has voted decisively for a bill that imposes sanctions on Russia, DPRK and Iran (25 July). The bi-partisan bill, which passed 419-3, aims to punish Russia for its alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential elections, and also for its 2014 annexation of Ukraine. As well as imposing sanctions on Iran and DPRK for their ballistic missiles programmes and support for terrorism, the bill contains a key provision requiring congressional approval before any sanctions on Moscow are lifted.

An agreement over the bill is believed to be close to being reached between negotiators from Congress and the Senate, which passed an earlier version of the bill 98-2. President Trump will next need to decide whether to sign the bill or veto it. At the moment his position is unclear: White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders told reporters the day before the bill passed that ‘[H]e’s going to study that legislation and see what the final product looks like.’

The Trump administration has previously raised objections to the axing of presidential authority in the bill, with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson claiming that it would curb the government’s ‘flexibility’ to deal with Moscow.