Report: Trump Admin Still Tough on Russia

The Trump administration has maintained many Obama-era policies to deter Russian aggression despite the president’s seemingly improved relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, The Hill reports.

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تاریخ: ۱۰ دی ۱۳۹۶ - ۰۹:۰۰

In December, the administration approved the commercial sale of lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine in an effort to counter Russian aggression in the region, sales authorized by Congress in 2014 but never followed through on by President Barack Obama. The Treasury Department earlier in the month also sanctioned five Russians under the Magnitsky Act for alleged human rights abuses – and is reportedly planning to announce more sanctions.

The Magnitsky sanctions have been a point of tension between Moscow and Washington, even before Russia's annexation of Crimea sent relations spiraling. In retaliation for the Magnitsky Act, Putin signed a bill halting U.S. adoptions of Russian children.

Trump also signed into law a $700 billion defense policy bill that included billions in funding for the European Deterrence Initiative, which "increases our capabilities to deter and defend against Russian aggression," according to the U.S. European Command Public Affairs Office.

Trump and Putin have traded compliments publicly, and Putin on Saturday in his annual New Year's letter to world leaders told Trump that "a constructive Russian-American dialogue is especially needed to strengthen strategic stability in the world."

The important thing to look at, says one official, is the United States' actions.

"If you look at the actions that we take, those are the things that ultimately matter. Those are the things that we’re doing," an administration official told The Hill.