The Russians Are Glad Trump Detests the New Sanctions

When President Donald Trump finally signed the new congressionally mandated Russia sanctions into law on Wednesday, Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, announced that the Kremlin wouldn’t implement any new retaliatory measures to mark the signing. “Retaliatory measures have already been taken,” he said, referring to Putin’s Sunday diktat that would cut America’s diplomatic presence in Russia by two-thirds.

But it wasn’t about the sanctions. He expressed his “concerns” with the bill, which he said had “problems” and was “seriously flawed,” and bemoaned that it “it encroaches on the executive branch’s authority to negotiate.” Speaking publicly about the law, he has it as “clearly unconstitutional.” He has still said nothing about Russia’s edict cutting 755 American diplomatic staff in Russia.