President Obama will sign by the end of the week legislation imposing new sanctions on Russia, as lawmakers pressure the White House to intensify economic penalties against President Vladimir Putin in the face of economic turmoil for the nation.
The White House had hedged on whether Obama would support the bill that overwhelmingly passed Congress in recent days, and press secretary Josh Earnest said the president still had reservations about the measure.
“We do have some concerns about that legislation … while it preserves flexibility, it does send a confusing message to our allies because it includes some sanctions language that does not reflect the consultations that are ongoing,” he said.
“Typically, these kinds of consultations … have allowed us to have private conversations with our European allies. This obviously is a rather public airing of other elements of our strategy that’d we prefer not to have. That said, because it does preserve the president’s flexibility to carry out that strategy, he does intend to sign the bill.”
The announcement comes as the ruble plunged to a record low in Russia on Tuesday, setting off widespread panic in Moscow about the country’s economy as the price of oil — key to Russia’s revenues — plummets.
The legislation also provides additional aid to Ukraine.
