US House passes new Russia curbs

Washington, July 26 

The US House of Representatives has voted overwhelmingly to slap new sanctions on Russia and force President Donald Trump to obtain lawmakers’ permission before easing any sanctions on Moscow, in a rare rebuke of the Republican President.

It was unclear how quickly the Bill would make its way to the White House for Trump to sign into law or veto. The Bill still must be passed by the Senate, which is mired in debate over efforts to overhaul the US healthcare system as lawmakers try to clear the decks to leave Washington for their summer recess.

The sanctions Bill comes as lawmakers investigate possible meddling by Russia in the 2016 presidential election and potential collusion by Republican Trump’s campaign. Moscow has denied it worked to influence the election in Trump’s favour, and he has denied his campaign colluded.

The White House said the President had not yet decided whether he would sign the measure. Rejecting the Bill — which would potentially hamper his hopes of pursuing improved relations with Moscow — would carry a risk that his veto could be overridden by lawmakers. “While the President supports tough sanctions on North Korea, Iran and Russia, the White House is reviewing 

the House legislation and awaits a final legislative package for the President’s desk,” said spokeswoman Sarah Sanders.

House members backed the Bill, which also imposes sanctions on Iran and North Korea, by a near-unanimous margin of 419-3, with strong support from Trump’s fellow Republicans as well as Democrats, despite objections from Trump, who wanted more control over the ability to impose sanctions. The Republican-controlled Senate passed an earlier version of the Bill with near-unanimous support. The House added the North Korea measures after becoming frustrated with the Senate’s failure to advance a Bill it passed in May. 

Senate leaders have not said when they might consider the House Bill. — Reuters

Kremlin talks tough

• Proposed new US sanctions against Russia are an extremely unfriendly act and sad news for Russia-US relations, the Kremlin has said, adding the approval of the law “would be the work of the enemies of Russia and the United States”
• “The authors and sponsors of this (sanctions) Bill are making a very serious step towards destruction of normalising ties with Russia,” said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov
• “The attitude to this (law) will be formed on the basis of a thorough analysis, and the decision will be taken by the President,” said Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman

Iran will respond to N-deal breach: Rouhani

• Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said Tehran will respond to any breach of the nuclear deal by Washington after the US House passed new sanctions. Iran’s national security and foreign affairs committee will hold a special session to discuss its response
•  “Iranians well know that they should resist and stand against their enemies… over the past 40 years, Iranians have faced numerous sanctions and accusations by US politicians and their propaganda machine.” “Americans cannot tolerate an independent and influential country (like Iran) in this sensitive region,” he said

Energy security at risk: EU 

• The European Union warned on Wednesday that it was ready to act within days to counter proposed new US sanctions on Russia, saying they would harm European firms and oil and gas projects on which the EU is dependent
• EU officials say the bloc could use EU regulations to prevent the application of the US measures, impose outright bans on doing business with certain US companies. Also, the EU could file a complaint at the World Trade Organisation