The US Senate nearly unanimously backs legislation to impose new sanctions on Russia, and to force President Donald Trump to get Congress' approval before easing any existing sanctions on Russia.
In a move that could complicate US President Donald Trump's desire for warmer relations with Moscow, the Senate backed the measure by 98-2 on Thursday.
Republican Senator Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, were the only two "no" votes.
The White House said existing sanctions against Russia are already effective following the vote.
The measure is intended to punish Russia for meddling in the 2016 US election, annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region and support for Syria's government in the six-year-long civil war.
If passed, it would put into law sanctions previously established via former President Barack Obama's executive orders, including some on Russian energy projects.
It allows new sanctions on Russian mining, metals, shipping and railways and targets Russians guilty of conducting cyber attacks or supplying weapons to Syria's government.
The legislation sets up a review process that would require Trump to get Congress' approval before taking any action to ease, suspend or lift any sanctions on Russia.
Trump was especially effusive about Russian president Vladimir Putin during the 2016 US election campaign, though his openness to closer ties to Moscow has tempered somewhat, with his administration on the defensive over investigations into alleged Russian meddling in the election.
Putin dismissed the proposed sanctions, saying they reflected an internal political struggle in the United States, and that Washington's policy of imposing sanctions on Moscow had always been to try to contain Russia.
The bill also includes new sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missile program and other activities not related to the international nuclear agreement reached with the United States and other world powers.
To become law, the legislation must pass the House of Representatives and be signed by Trump.
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