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Trump unclear on Russian sanctions

Officials at the White House are giving different signals about whether Donald Trump will agree to legislation allowing new sanctions on Russia. White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, said that Mr Trump had not yet decided whether to sign the bill. The legislation is designed as a form of punishment for the alleged Russian involvement in his election. In tweets, Mr Trump dismissed such talk as a “witch hunt” and condemned members of his own party who hadn’t supported him. But, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Trump administration’s press secretary says the White House supports the legislation If Mr Trump was able to veto the bill he could fuel suspicion that he supports Russia too much. But if he signs the bill he would be performing a U-turn on one of his own adminstration’s policies. Congressional Democrats said on Saturday they had agreed with Republicans on a deal allowing new sanctions targeting Russia, Iran and North Korea in a bill that would limit any potential effort by Trump to try to lift sanctions against Moscow.