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US Congress Deprives Trump of Flexibility in Talks With Russia, Ex-Official Says

© AP Photo / Evan VucciPresident Donald Trump talks with reporters as he walks to the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 2, 2017.
President Donald Trump talks with reporters as he walks to the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 2, 2017. - Sputnik International
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The White House wants Congress to weaken restrictions on presidential authorities contained within a Russia sanctions bill because it will handicap the Trump administration during talks with Moscow, former US Agency for International Development (USAID) consultant Paolo von Schirach told Sputnik.

US President Donald Trump speaks on the phone with Russia's President Vladimir Putin from the Oval Office of the White House on January 28, 2017, in Washington, DC - Sputnik International
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WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On Thursday, US House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a press conference he wants the House to move quickly on a bill passed by the Senate last week that imposes sanctions on Russia for allegedly meddling in the 2016 US president election.

The proposed bill would also prevent President Donald Trump from lifting any penalties against Moscow, which is why White House officials, according to media reports, have been trying to get House Republicans to weaken the bill.

"It is a lot more complicated to engage in any diplomatic bargaining with Russia after Congress has already tilted the balance, this way depriving President Trump of the flexibility that all presidents would like to have when dealing with foreign powers," Schirach said on Thursday.

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It would stand to reason, Schirach argued, that Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would like to retain "full, unhindered authority on sanctions in order to have leverage in their dealings with Moscow."

Schirach warned, however, that the White House has a problem because matters involving Russia are seen through the lens of government probes into Trump’s alleged ties with the Kremlin.

Ordinarily, there would be no surprise if any president would resist congressional activism regarding economic sanctions, Schirach remarked.

"If these sanctions were not about Russia, there would not be an opportunity for posturing on the part of congressional factions. But they are about Russia, and this causes a problem for the White House," he acknowledged.

In the current US political atmosphere, "any attempts by the executive branch to block or water down any new sanctions against Russia, and anything else that could be construed as ‘going easy’ on Russia would simply reinforce the accepted narrative," he said.

Russian officials have repeatedly refuted allegation of meddling in the US election, characterizing them as absurd.

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