PuTin, Trump To discuss ukraine sancTions soon

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump are likely to discuss the sanctions that Washington imposed on Russia over the conflict in Ukraine when the two leaders speak by telephone on Saturday, a senior White House aide said. Trump has said in the past that, as part of a rapprochement he is seeking with Russia, he is prepared to review sanctions that his predecessor, Barack Obama, imposed on Russia over its 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula. That move would face resistance from both influential figures in Washington and foreign leaders. The United Nations refugee agency and International Organization for Migration (IOM) called on the Trump administration on Saturday to continue offering asylum to people fleeing war and persecution, saying its resettlement program was vital.

U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday put a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the United States and temporarily barred travelers from Syria and six other Muslim-majority countries, saying the moves would help protect Americans from terrorist attacks.

“The needs of refugees and migrants worldwide have never been greater and the U.S. resettlement program is one of the most important in the world,” the two Geneva- based agencies said in a joint statement.

Trump stopped the entry of travelers from Syria and the six other nations - Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen - for at least 90 days, saying his administration needed time to develop more stringent screening processes for refugees, immigrants and