The upper house of the US Congress has overwhelmingly passed a law imposing new sanctions against the US foreign policy enemies - Russia, Iran and the DPRK, - despite objection on the part of the White House. This is reported by the BBC Russian Service.
It is noted that 98 senators voted for the bill, only two - against. The House of Representatives had passed the bill at the beginning of the week, by an overwhelming majority as well. Now it must be signed by President Donald Trump.
About half of 184 pages in the extensive document are dedicated to Russia. These pages list everything that American politicians accuse Moscow of - actions against Ukraine, attempts on cyber security of the USA and other countries and attempts to influence the electoral outcome, support for Bashar Assad in Syria, corruption, human rights violations and so on. All acts and decrees on sanctions, adopted up to the present day, are mentioned as well.
The main thing in the new law is that it deprives the president of the opportunity to lift sanctions against Russia without the permission of parliament.
"In theory, Trump, who was looking for opportunities to get closer to Moscow, can veto the bill, but then he will actually come into an open conflict with the parliament. Moreover, given the voting results in both chambers, the Congress can easily overcome the presidential veto, as only two thirds of congressmen will have to vote for it", - the BBC notes.
The law does not directly introduce any new measures and does not oblige the president to introduce them. However, it provides for the possibility of introducing new sanctions against investors from any country, for example, for participating in the construction of Russian export pipelines.
Furthermore, the section on assistance in ensuring Ukraine's energy security directly refers to the need, from the US congressmen's point of view, to counter the construction of the Nord Stream - 2 gas pipeline from Russia along the bottom of the Baltic Sea to Germany.
That is why the adopted bill was quiet disturbing to the European Union. Several European leaders have already criticized this document.