[1/16/2019]: A bipartisan attempt to condemn the Trump administration for relaxing Russia sanctions stalled in the Senate Wednesday after Republicans banded together to block the effort. https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/16/gop-senate-rebuke-trump-1088882 The bill would have formally rebuked the administration before it moves ahead with plans to lift sanctions on companies linked to oligarch Oleg Deripaska, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The bill needed 60 votes to advance to passage but fell three votes short this afternoon. Eleven Senate Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the measure. They weren’t convinced by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s argument that the sanctions should be lifted because the Russian firms had reorganized and had severed Deripaska’s control.
Re: lobbying efforts on behalf of Mr. Deripaska see NYT Nov 4, 2018 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/04/world/europe/oleg-deripaska-russia-oligarch-sanctions.html
In other news, Anastasia Vashukevich has been released from jail and returned to Moscow https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/17/asia/anastasia-vashukevich-deported-russia-intl/index.html
[1/16/2019]: A bipartisan attempt to condemn the Trump administration for relaxing Russia sanctions stalled in the Senate Wednesday after Republicans banded together to block the effort. https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/16/gop-senate-rebuke-trump-1088882 The bill would have formally rebuked the administration before it moves ahead with plans to lift sanctions on companies linked to oligarch Oleg Deripaska, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The bill needed 60 votes to advance to passage but fell three votes short this afternoon. Eleven Senate Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the measure. They weren’t convinced by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s argument that the sanctions should be lifted because the Russian firms had reorganized and had severed Deripaska’s control.
Re: lobbying efforts on behalf of Mr. Deripaska see NYT Nov 4, 2018 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/04/world/europe/oleg-deripaska-russia-oligarch-sanctions.html
In other news, Anastasia Vashukevich has been released from jail and returned to Moscow https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/17/asia/anastasia-vashukevich-deported-russia-intl/index.html