President Donald Trump signed the newest Russia sanctions bill into law on Wednesday, according to multiple reports.
Congress overwhelmingly approved the measure in response to various Russian actions like efforts to influence the 2016 election. It puts tougher sanctions on Moscow and curbs the president’s ability to roll them back.
The package also targets Iran and North Korea.
Trump and his secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, had expressed concerns about the sanctions’ possible effects on U.S. relations with Russia. The administration has pushed to improve relations with Moscow but has gotten tripped up by the probe into Russian attempts to affect the election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin.
Trump faced a veto-proof majority in Congress. He also risked looking too favorable to Russia amid those closely watched investigations by federal authorities and congressional committees.
On Tuesday, Tillerson said, “Neither the president nor I were very happy” about Congress passing the measure.
“We were clear that we didn’t think it was going to be helpful to our efforts, but that’s the decision they made, they made it in a very overwhelming way. I think the president accepts that,” he told reporters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin responded Sunday by demandingthe U.S. cut its diplomatic staff there by 755 people.
The latest developments put U.S.-Russia relations “under considerable stress,” Tillerson said.
U.S. allies in Europe also warned about possible repercussions from the sanctions bill. German officials cautioned the measures could hurt German companies or compromise the country’s energy projects.
