The White House Announced U.S. Government's Cooperation with Congress on Russia Sanctions

The White House spokesperson expressed the U.S. government's support for Congress's decision to intensify sanctions against Russia, emphasizing that the government will collaborate with the House of Representatives and the Senate to impose strict sanctions on Russia until the Ukraine issue is fully resolved. The intensification of sanctions against Russia is part of an amendment to a bill that was approved in the U.S. Senate to impose new sanctions against Iran. This bill, known as 'Countering Iran's Destabilizing Activities,' received support from 98 members of the U.S. Senate and is now awaiting a decision from the House of Representatives. However, as reported by Reuters, officials from Donald Trump's administration have held meetings with American lawmakers in recent weeks to persuade them regarding changes to the Senate bill, including a provision that requires the U.S. President to seek congressional approval before any easing of sanctions. This has led to speculation about a potential veto of this bill by the U.S. President, as his approval would be necessary for it to become law after the House of Representatives votes positively. On Sunday, Republican Senator John Thune and Democratic Senator Ben Cardin expressed confidence that the number of congressional representatives voting in favor of this bill would be sufficient to prevent the President from being able to veto it. Recently, representatives from both the Republican and Democratic parties in Congress reached an agreement to add sanctions against North Korea to the Senate bill, paving the way for its final approval. At the same time, according to Reuters, such a bill limits the Trump administration's potential efforts to lift sanctions against Russia. Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has recently emphasized that sanctions against Russia will remain in place until the crises in Syria and Ukraine are resolved. The conditionality of lifting sanctions against Russia on the complete resolution of the Ukraine issue was highlighted in a conversation by Sarah Sanders, the White House spokesperson, with ABC News, where she stated that until then, they will continue to work with Congress to impose stricter sanctions against Russia. Reuters quoted a White House official, who remained unnamed, stating that after changes were made to the Senate bill, especially the addition of sanctions against North Korea, the Trump administration considers this bill to be more evolved. This official also mentioned that the government supports the direction of this bill but will not comment on it until the final version is prepared. Meanwhile, according to Reuters, the European Union has warned about the unilateral increase of sanctions against Russia and has asked the U.S. to cooperate with its allies in the G7 on this matter. The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on Tuesday this week regarding the 'Countering Iran's Destabilizing Activities' bill, which includes sanctions against Russia and North Korea.