Sanctions may ironically lead to US-EU rift

Russia has demanded the United States cut its diplomatic staff in Russia to 455 by September and could consider taking further action as part of its response to fresh US sanctions approved by Congress. US President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill into law soon, imposing sweeping sanctions on Russia, Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea that were approved by the Senate with an overwhelming bipartisan majority of 97 to 2.

The "overlapping consensus" on the sanctions against the three countries, which primarily targets Russia, supposedly has something to do with the conclusion drawn by US intelligence agencies that Russia "meddled" in last year's US presidential election. It also signals an attempt to limit Trump's diplomatic powers and subject them to congressional approval, particularly when it comes to ties with Moscow.

Even if Trump refuses to sign the sanction bill into law, the Congress can overrule him. In fact, the only way Trump can stall the bill is to propose tougher sanctions against the three countries, a move that risks shrinking Washington's diplomatic leeway in the Middle East and Korean Peninsula issues, as well as plunging US-Russia relations into uncertainty just one month after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit in Hamburg.