© Sergey Guneev / Sputnik
The bill, which also targets Iran and North Korea, not only expands sanctions against Russia and potentially throws a massive spanner in the works of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline between Germany and Russia, but also seeks to limit the president's ability to ease, or lift the sanctions in the future. The message from the neocon dominated Congress is clear: Russia must be kept in the 'sin-bin' (until of course a nice 'liberal' who will do everything the hawks in Washington demand comes to power), and economic/business links between Europe and Russia must be broken.
European leaders, many of whom would like to see sanctions on Russia eased have been quick to voice their disapproval. They know the huge cost to their economies the sanctions and Russian countermeasures have had, €4 billion to Italy alone, and further escalation of financial warfare with the Kremlin would be utterly disastrous.
Comment: It's about time for this: When is the World going to impose sanctions on America?