Trump faces Election Day deadline on Russia

The Trump administration is facing an Election Day deadline to decide whether to impose a fresh round of sanctions on Moscow over the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in Britain earlier this year.

By law, the administration is required to either certify to Congress that Moscow has met a series of strict conditions or unveil new sanctions by Nov. 6. The deadline comes on the same day as the midterm elections and less than a week before President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are due to meet on the sidelines of the Armistice Day celebrations in Paris.

The United States and other allies have joined the United Kingdom in blaming the Kremlin — particularly agents of Russia’s secretive military intelligence unit, the GRU — for using a military-grade nerve agent in an unsuccessful assassination plot against Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy, in March.

Under fierce pressure from Congress, Trump administration officials announced penalties against Moscow in the form of sanctions in August, the most damaging of them blocking exports of sensitive national security goods and technologies to Russia.

https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/413982-trump-faces-election-day-deadline-on-russia?userid=229233