Trump Signs Russia Sanctions Bill, Moscow Calls It Trade War
US President Donald Trump grudgingly signed into law new sanctions against Russia on Wednesday, a move Moscow said amounted to a full-scale trade war and an end to hopes for better ties with the Trump administration.
Congress overwhelmingly approved the legislation last week, passing a measure that conflicts with the Republican P-resident’s desire to improve relations with Moscow.
Mr Trump signed the bill behind closed doors, without the fanfare that has customarily accompanied his signing of executive orders.
He criticised the measure as infringing on his powers to shape foreign policy, and said he could make “far better deals” with governments than Congress can. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called the sanctions tantamount to a full-scale trade war, adding in a Facebook post that this showed the Trump administration had demonstrated “utter powerlessness.”
“The hope that our relations with the new American administration would improve is finished,” he wrote.
Mr Trump’s litany of concerns about the sanctions, which also affect Iran and North Korea, raised the question of how vigorously Mr Trump will implement them regarding Russia.
“While I favour tough measures to punish and deter aggressive and destabilising behaviour by Iran, North Korea, and Russia, this legislation is significantly flawed,” Mr Trump said in a message to lawmakers known as a signing statement.
He also issued a statement for the press about the bill. The new law allows Congress, which passed the measure to punish Russia over interference in the 2016 US presidential election and the annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea, to halt any effort by Mr Trump to ease sanctions on Russia.
His hands were tied after the Republican-controlled Congress approved the legislation by such a large margin last week that any presidential veto of the bill would have been overridden. Republican House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan welcomed the signing, saying it would send “a powerful message to our adversaries that they will be held accountable.”