US Senate to postpone advancing anti-Russian sanctions bill in wake of Trump's statements

The US Senate will refrain from advancing a bill on tougher sanctions against Russia following US President Donald Trump's statements about his intention to impose import duties on Moscow if no agreements on a settlement in Ukraine are reached, Republican Majority Leader in the upper house of Congress John Thune of South Dakota said, Report informs.

"It sounds like right now the president is going to attempt to do some of this on his own," Thune stated, as quoted by Politico. "If at some point the president concludes that it makes sense and adds value and leverage that he needs in those negotiations to move the bill, then we’ll do it. We’ll be ready to go," he added.

"We are going to try as best we can [...], coordinate strategies with the White House, obviously with the House [of Representatives]," the senator pointed out.

The bill was introduced in early April by a bipartisan group of senators led by Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, and Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut. The proposal includes measures such as secondary sanctions against Russia’s trading partners, for example, tariffs of 500% on imports to the US from countries that purchase oil, gas, uranium, and other goods from Russia.