Washington - US President Donald Trump
has signed legislation imposing new sanctions on Russia into
law, a White House official said on Wednesday.
The US Congress voted last week by overwhelming margins
for sanctions to punish the Russian government over interference
in the 2016 presidential election, annexation of Ukraine's
Crimea and other perceived violations of international norms.
Trump, who has made clear he wanted to improve relations
with Russia, grudgingly accepted the new congressional
sanctions, which also included Iran and North Korea. The bill
had enough support in Congress to override a presidential veto.
Trump's signing of the bill followed some conflicting
signals from the administration in recent days about the
sanctions.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters on
Tuesday that he and Trump did not believe the new sanctions
would "be helpful to our efforts" on diplomacy with Russia. Vice
President Mike Pence said that the bill showed Trump and
Congress were speaking "with a unified voice."
White House adviser Kellyanne Conway confirmed the signing
during an interview with Fox News.
Trump's desire for better relations with Moscow has been
hamstrung by findings of US intelligence agencies that Russia
interfered to help the Republican against Democratic
presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. US congressional
panels and a special counsel are investigating. Moscow denies
any meddling and Trump denies any collusion by his campaign.
The Russian rouble weakened slightly following the initial
report that Trump had signed the bill.