Politics
12:10, 27-Jul-2017
Europe worries US sanctions may affect its energy security
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The EU warned Wednesday that the US House of Representatives voted to impose tougher sanctions on Russia could threaten their energy security and divide the West.
US lawmakers reached an agreement on Wednesday paving the way for the Senate to pass a bill as soon as this week to impose new sanctions on Russia and bar President Donald Trump from easing sanctions on Moscow without Congress' approval.
"I am glad to announce that we have reached an agreement that will allow us to send sanctions legislation to the president's desk," Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement.
Coker said the Senate would move to approve sanctions on Russia and Iran that it originally passed in mid-June, as well as sanctions on North Korea included the House bill.
The House voted 419-3 on Tuesday to impose new sanctions on Moscow and force Trump to obtain lawmakers' approval before easing any punitive measures on Russia.
Many US lawmakers see the sanctions as an appropriate response to the alleged Russian meddling in last year's elections.
The EU is concerned that US sanctions will hurt investments in an oil pipeline connecting Russia to Germany
So far, Russia is taking an wait and see approach to the sanctions.
"This is rather sad news from the point of view of Russia-U.S. ties," said Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman. "We are talking about an extremely unfriendly act."
He said President Vladimir Putin would decide if and how Moscow would retaliate once the sanctions became law. Russia's deputy foreign minister warned the move was taking bilateral relations into uncharted waters, killing off hopes of improving them in the near future.
Before the latest agreement, some senators had objected to the North Korea measures and it had looked like the sanctions bill, already delayed since mid-June, could languish into September.
If the bill passes the Senate as expected, it would be sent to the White House for Trump to sign into law or veto. It is, however, expected to garner enough support to override a Trump veto.
With inputs from Reuters and AFP