President Trump has been backed into a corner on Russia policy, facing only bad options — pressed by President Vladimir Putin on one side and, from the other, by assertive U.S. lawmakers who don’t trust Trump to stand up to the autocrat. At home, he’s under pressure to sign the sanctions bill into law and aides say he will, if only because Congress could easily override a veto. Signing the bill, however, could sink his effort to improve relations with Russia and bond with Putin. It would prevent Trump, or any other president, from lifting those sanctions without going back to Congress for approval. They subsequently included Russia out of bipartisan concern that Trump might ease existing sanctions on Russia to curry favor with Putin.

Source: Los Angeles Times August 01, 2017 18:08 UTC