Sen. Chris Coons said Monday that the Trump administration hasn’t offered “any satisfactory explanation” why they would not impose sanctions on Russia.
“So far, they have used sanctioning authorities against other countries that were also a part of that same bill, against North Korea, against Iran, although they were slow to act in both of those cases,” Mr. Coons, Delaware Democrat, said on CNN.
“There hasn’t been, in my mind, any satisfactory explanation,” he added.
Monday marks the deadline for President Trump to act on the sanction package passed overwhelmingly by Congress, which the president signed last August. The Treasury Department is set to start imposing the sanctions on those doing business with Russian defense and intelligence services, but the administration has failed to use the full extent of the powers granted in the sanctions bill.
Mr. Coons said he’s concerned about the president’s continued praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin and why the administration has delayed imposing sanctions on a country that meddled in the 2016 election.
“It continues to be puzzling. All the way back to the campaign, candidate Trump made repeated, unprecedented statements that were positive, glowing about Vladimir Putin and Russia and were negative, and even attacking, our European or Western allies,” he said.
The Trump administration can delay or waive the sanctions passed in August, but it would require a certification that Russia had made major changes on cybersecurity and meddling.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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