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Moscow to frame stance on new sanctions once US bill becomes law

The Kremlin regrets the US House of Representatives has voted for a bill on tighter sanctions against Russia

PETROZAVODSK, July 26./TASS/. The Kremlin will remain mum on the fresh round of US sanctions until they become law, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday commenting on a US bill seeking to tighten individual sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea, approved by the House of Representatives on July 25.

Before the bill becomes law it must also be passed by the Senate and then signed by President Donald Trump. "So far we are speaking about a bill and we are not going to make any substantive assessments. "The attitude to this will be formulated after a thorough analysis and a certain decision will be made by the head of state, President Vladimir Putin," Peskov said.

"As the Senate’s further say is expected, let us wait for this bill to become law," he added. At the same time, the Kremlin views is dismayed by the US House of Representatives’ vote on the bill to tighten sanctions against Russia.

"Now one can say that the news is rather sad from the standpoint of Russian-US relations and their future. It is no less dismaying in terms of international law and international trade relations," the spokesman told the media.

He added that his comments were based "on the information about the bill available to us."

Replying to a comment on a statement by Chairman of the of the Federation Council’s International Affairs Committee, Konstantin Kosachev, urging a tit-for-tat response to the new sanctions, Peskov said "decisions in the foreign policy sphere are made by the Russian president’.

"If and when such decisions are made, we will inform you. All the other statements from our parliamentarians are clear and understandable. We are speaking about extremely unfriendly manifestations, and that is why the reaction is obvious," he added.

The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill to toughen unilateral US sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea.