TEAM EFFORT

Senators Unveil Bipartisan Agreement on Russia Sanctions

Would prohibit Trump from lifting sanctions without congressional approval.

Senators have agreed on a bipartisan agreement that would expand sanctions on Russia and prevent President Trump from lifting them without congressional approval. In a statement released late Monday, Republican and Democratic lawmakers said they agreed on an amendment that would be added to the Iran sanctions bill—which Trump has supported—that would strengthen existing sanctions and impose new ones on a slew of Russian sectors and individuals. Russia’s mining, metals, shipping, and railway industries would face new sanctions, as would corrupt officials, individuals evading sanctions, those supplying weapons to Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, and those involved in cyberattacks on behalf of the Kremlin. Any attempt to relax or lift the sanctions would be met with a mandated congressional review, the statement said. The amendment is expected to put Trump in an awkward position, as he has repeatedly hinted at improving U.S. relations with Russia and played down the idea Moscow interfered in the 2016 presidential election. But if he chooses to veto the bill, he will be going against his outspoken support for the Iran sanctions bill.