The US Senate on Thursday voted decisively to approve a new package of stiff financial sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea, sending the popular bill to US President Donald Trump for his signature after weeks of intense negotiations.
Never in doubt were provisions that bar Trump from easing or waiving the additional penalties on Russia unless the US Congress agrees. They were included to assuage concerns among lawmakers that the president’s push for better relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin might lead him to relax the penalties without first securing concessions from the Kremlin.
The Senate passed the bill with 98 votes against 2, two days after the House pushed the measure through by an overwhelming margin of 419 against 3. Both are veto-proof numbers as the White House has wavered on whether the president would sign the measure into law.
The legislation is aimed at punishing Moscow for meddling in last year’s presidential election and its military aggression in Ukraine and Syria, where the Kremlin has backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
US Senator John McCain said the bill’s passage was long overdue, a jab at Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress.
Trump had privately expressed frustration over Congress’ ability to limit or override the power of the president on national security matters, administration officials and advisers said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
However, faced with heavy bipartisan support for the bill in the US House of Representatives and Senate, the president has little choice but to sign the bill into law.
The 184-page bill seeks to hit Putin and the oligarchs close to him by targeting Russian corruption, human rights abusers and crucial sectors of the Russian economy, including weapons sales and energy exports.
The bill underwent revisions to address concerns voiced by US oil and natural gas companies that sanctions specific to Russia’s energy sector could backfire on them to Moscow’s benefit. The bill raised the threshold for when US firms would be prohibited from being part of energy projects that also included Russian businesses.
Lawmakers said they also made adjustments so the sanctions on Russia’s energy sector would not undercut the ability of the US’ allies in Europe to get access to oil and gas resources outside of Russia.
The North Korea sanctions are intended to thwart Pyongyang’s ambition for nuclear weapons by cutting off access to the cash the reclusive nation needs to follow through with its plans.
The bill prohibits ships owned by North Korea or by countries that refuse to comply with UN resolutions against it from operating in US waters or docking at US ports. Goods produced by North Korea’s forced labor would be prohibited from entering the US.
The sanctions package imposes mandatory penalties on people involved in Iran’s ballistic missile program and anyone who does business with them. The measure would apply terrorism sanctions to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and enforce an arms embargo.
In response to the sanctions, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday announced that it is ordering the US embassy to reduce its diplomats to 455 by Sept. 1.
Russia will also close down the embassy’s recreational retreat on the outskirts of Moscow as well as warehouse facilities, it said.
The ministry dismissed the new sanctions as “creating unfair competitive advantages for the US economy.”
“This kind of blackmail aimed at restricting the cooperation between Russia and other nations is a threat for many countries and global businesses,” the ministry said.
Moscow said it would cut the US diplomatic corps even further if the US decides to expel more Russian diplomats.
The Kremlin had previously said that it would not impose any sanctions on the US until Trump signs the bill.
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