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Eastern Europe
August 4, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 16
Russian sanction limbo begins new chapter as Trump signs bill
bne IntelliNews
The US President Donald Trump has signed into law a bill imposing tougher sanctions on Rus- sia, North Korea, and Iran, that also limits his own ability to end those sanctions, ending weeks of uncertainty and opening a new chapter in the sanction regime against Russia.
Trump was expected to sign the bill, as the al- most universal support in Congress for the legislation would allow it to override a presiden- tial veto if he refused. That would only fuel more suspicions in the ongoing investigations of Rus- sian meddling in the US elections and president’s campaign.
However, the White House also released a sign- ing statement, saying the law will be carried out but expressing reservations about the constitu- tionality of some of its provisions. The new sanc- tions bill specifically limits the president’s ability to remove or reduce the sanctions unilaterally. On August 3, President Trump warned that US relations with Russia had hit a “very dangerous low”, as he accused fellow Republicans on Capi- tol Hill of risking a new Cold War by limiting his power to make deals with the Kremlin.
For the Kremlin’s part, it is fuming over the
new sanctions and the flip-flopping of the US president, who previously slammed sanctions as harmful and boasted he will make ”deals” with Russia.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev lam- basted Trump’s administration as “utterly help- less,” “humiliating,” and “surrendering executive power to Congress” for signing the bill that starts “a full-blown trade war”.
Trump signed off on a new sanctions bill that limits his own ability to end sanctions
Experts surveyed by Bloomberg in Washington suggested that Congress could replace the bill with one that leaves more room for the White House once the administration cements a coher- ent and consistent Russia policy.
But the damage in Russia has already been done, with Medvedev arguing that the new bill codi- fied the sanctions into a regime that will last “for decades to come”, while President Vladimir Pu- tin reacted angrily by ordering home 755 Ameri- can dimplomats, prompting talks of Cold War 2.0.
“Despite all the euphoria in Moscow after Trump’s election and commentary about Putin as a great strategist, the end result is a more ag- gressive US sanctions regime doing more dam- age to Russia,” BlueBay strategist Timothy Ash commented on August 3.
Despite the noise, the sanctions are probably a boon for Putin who has been struggling to craft a solid message on which to build his 2018 presidential re-election campaign. The “fortress Russia surrounded by enemies” has been very productive and these sanctions only underline the theme once again.
Putin’s approval rating remains sky-high at over 80%. Indeed he is more popular since the show- down over Ukraine began in 2014 than he was during the years of the economic boom in the noughties.
Just this week a poll found that more than 80% of Russia’s youth support President Putin’s policies, according to the Center for Students’ Sociology. “More than 80% of students support