Trump Signs Russian Sanctions Into Law, With Caveats
"But the president and our Congress are unified in our message to Russia: A better relationship and the lifting of sanctions will require Russia to reverse the actions and conduct
that caused sanctions to be imposed in the first place." But just a day earlier, Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson offered a somewhat different take, focusing on the potential for cooperation with Russia in fighting the Islamic State and finding a resolution to the civil war in Syria.
Vice President Mike Pence, who has been visiting Eastern Europe in recent days to shore up allies nervous about an assertive Kremlin, told a group of Balkan prime ministers on Wednesday
that Russia sought "to redraw international borders by force" and "undermine your democracies." "The United States will continue to hold Russia accountable for its actions, and we call on our European allies and friends to do the same," he said in Montenegro, the latest Eastern European nation to join NATO.
2, 2017
Even before he signed the bill, the Russian government retaliated by seizing two American diplomatic properties
and ordering the United States to reduce its embassy staff members in Russia by 755 people.
By limiting the executive’s flexibility, this bill makes it harder for the United States to strike good deals for the American people
and will drive China, Russia and North Korea much closer together." "Yet despite its problems," he added, "I am signing this bill for the sake of national unity.
Even before he signed it, the Russian government retaliated by seizing two American diplomatic properties
and ordering the United States to reduce its embassy staff members in Russia by 755 people.
WASHINGTON — President Trump signed legislation on Wednesday imposing sanctions on Russia and limiting his own authority to lift them, but asserted
that the measure included "clearly unconstitutional provisions" and left open the possibility that he might choose not to enforce them as lawmakers intended.