All posts tagged "Sanctions"

Former Vice President Mike Pence attempted to decode Donald Trump's comments on the Russia sanctions bill crafted by the Senate following the president's falling out with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine.

CNN's Kate Bolduan introduced the topic by saying that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) won't act on the bill crafted by Sen. Lindsey Graham and other Senate hawks "unless Trump signs off," adding "Trump is not a 'yes' yet."

"My hope is the president will make it clear that he wants that bill on his desk," Pence began as Bolduan interjected, "He keeps saying, 'yes, maybe, no, I don't need it yet.' He suggested to advisers that it won't deter —"...

The White House is pushing back on provisions of a Russia sanctions bill masterminded by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), claiming it would allow Congress to "micromanage" the president on foreign policy.

Graham and GOP "hawks" have pushed the bill for months, according to Politico, but Trump seems to have just now had an epiphany about Russian President Vladimir Putin's duplicitous behavior when it comes to Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Trump expressed his frustration with the Russian president, saying, "We get a lot of bull---- thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless." Trump also let on that he would be willing to consider sanctions against Russia to get Putin back to the negotiating table regarding the war....

Washington (AFP) - The United States confirmed Monday it had signed off on the transfer of $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds from South Korea, paving the way for five US citizens to leave Tehran. The archenemies announced last month, after protracted negotiations, a deal in which the US citizens were freed from prison and put under house arrest, with the expectation they will fly out of Iran once the funds are moved to an account in Qatar. Secretary of State Antony Blinken notified Congress that he had gone ahead on a key part of the agreement, signing a waiver that will shield banks involved......

Washington (AFP) - The United States on Friday sanctioned two Russian individuals and three entities over their support for North Korea's weapons program, the Treasury Department said. The measures came a day after the Pentagon published an intelligence assessment that two recent North Korea missile launches were tests for a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system. The sanctions target "a network of Russia-based individuals and entities complicit in helping (North Korea) procure components for its unlawful ballistic missile systems," the Treasury under-secretary for terrorism and ......

Havana (AFP) - Cuba on Monday marks 60 years under a US economic blockade that has deeply affected the communist nation's fortunes and shows no signs of being lifted. Decreed by US president John F. Kennedy on February 3, 1962, the embargo on all bilateral trade came into effect four days later. Its purpose, said Kennedy's executive order, was to reduce the threat posed by the island nation's "alignment with the communist powers." Despite failing to force a change in tack from Havana since then, the sanctions remain in place six decades later, and are blamed by Cuban authorities for damage to ......