Russian President Putin shakes hands with Iranian President Rouhani during joint news conference following their meeting at Kremlin in MoscowThomson ReutersWASHINGTON (AP) - The Republican-led Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday to approve sweeping sanctions legislation targeting Iran and Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that new USA sanctions on Russia will damage ties between the two countries. Trump has said he wants to improve U.S. -Russia relations and has expressed foreign policy views on a number of topics that are friendlier to Russian interests than the policies of past U.S. administrations.
"It's time to respond to Russia's attack on American democracy with strength, with resolve, with common goal, and with action", said Republican Senator John McCain.
While backing Trump on most issues, leading Republicans such as Corker have challenged his assertion that he can make deals with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But as the inquiries examine whether members of Trump's campaign discussed easing sanctions on Russian Federation after Trump won the election, Congress is hitting the brakes on any possibility of warmer relations with the country that's United States intelligence agencies say tried to meddle in the USA democratic process.
The measure lawmakers voted on Wednesday would give Congress the chance to block any efforts by the Trump administration - or any other president, for that matter - to roll back sanctions without the consent of Congress.
A frequently polarized Senate has found common ground as Republicans and Democrats joined forces to approve a sweeping sanctions bill that uses an array of financial penalties to punish Iran and Russian Federation. So the White House would have to reject stricter punishments against Iran, which it favors, in order to derail the parts of the legislation it objects to. Rand Paul (R -KY) and Bernie Sanders (I - VT).
Ex-Gov. Richardson: N. Korea Must Explain Why Released American Is Comatose
He had not been seen in public since, and Swedish diplomats, representing US interests, had been denied consular access to him. Last week, North Korean officials told Yun about Warmbier's medical condition. 'We learned of this only one week ago.
The sanctions come on the back of numerous rounds of other punitive measures taken by the US and the European Union in response to Russia's military intervention in Ukraine and its annexation of the country's Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. The House of Representatives also must pass the measure for it to become law.
Geopolitical analyst Ian Bremmer, the CEO of the political risk firm Eurasia Group, tweeted Thursday: "Heard from Defense Min of a U.S. ally: Mattis & Tillerson said they make relevant policy decisions & ignore Trump because he's not in charge".
Crapo is Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.
The discussions gathered steam late last month after Sen.
McCain described existing punitive measures against Russian Federation as "modest" and "reversible at the discretion of the president". But Corker said his patience ran out after he reviewed classified intelligence that showed "no difference whatsoever" in Russia's behavior, especially in Syria.
President Trump and Moscow have always denied any collusion.
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