© Win McNamee/Getty Images

WASHINGTON, June 15. /Offset. TASS Anatoly Bochinin/. The Senate of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday supported the inclusion of amendments to toughen anti-Russian sanctions in the bill, which initially was aimed at increasing pressure on Iran.

Previously this amendment was agreed in the cours e which lasted for a long time of discussions between representatives of the Republican and Democratic parties with leaders of both factions in the Senate – Mitch McConnell and Charles Schumer. Its inclusion in the bill on Iran to allow senators not to waste time making separate initiatives that dealt exclusively with Russia. The final vote on the text could take place this week, although the date has not been determined.

See also related news:

Sanctions against Russia

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

Peskov: Russia does not wish the relations between Moscow and Washington went at the peak of sanctions

The U.S. Senate intends to radically limit investment in the energy projects of the Russian Federation

Tillerson: all foreign partners have asked the United States to normalize relations with Russia

Tillerson: the US is trying to stop the deterioration of relations with Russia

Overall, the senators propose to increase the current against the Russian Federation sanctions regime on several fronts. First and foremost, they insist on the institutionalization of sanctions imposed on the basis of Executive decrees of the former President Barack Obama in connection with the situation in the South-East of Ukraine and the reunification of the Crimea with Russia. It will affect those who, according to Washington, involved in the cyber attacks, unsubstantiated attributed to USA and Russia.

In addition, the lawmakers plan to deprive the White house right unilaterally to mitigate the sanctions regime. To do this, the President must submit to Congress a clear list of individuals with whom you plan to remove sanctions, and to assure legislators that Russia changed its policy on several fronts, including in Syria and Ukraine.

According to the text of the amendment, the President must impose sanctions against those who provide “substantial financial, material or technological support” to the Syrian government. He was also given the right to impose restrictions against persons who invest large sums of money – between $1 million and more – in the construction of Russian pipelines to export energy resources. Provides sanctions for “human rights violations” and conduct cyberattacks against the United States.

As explained in the office of the Senate Committee on foreign relations, a bill providing for increased pressure on Iran and Russia, is still pending in the U.S. Senate and may not come up for discussion in the House of representatives.

“No “the bill” on sanctions against Russia were not accepted by the Senate. The Senate by 97 votes in favour and two against, has included an amendment to the anti-Russian sanctions in the bill on restrictions against Iran. Himself this bill remains one of the major initiatives that are under consideration in the Senate,” said the staff. A similar clarification was made by the assistants of a member of the foreign Affairs Committee Democrat Robert Menendez, in their words, “the Senate approved an amendment to the bill.”

This document has broad bipartisan support and is likely to eventually be adopted by the upper house. However, as noted in a conversation with correspondent TASS the staff of the U.S. Congress, for many years engaged in the sanctions theme, the House of representatives is unlikely to support this initiative. “The current Senate bill is stronger than expected; this is a serious bipartisan proposal,” – admitted the expert. In his view, even if the project is not adopted, then at least more difficult for the administration of Donald trump any softening of approach towards Russia, including the return of diplomatic property of the Russian Federation, access to which was closed by the former Obama administration in late December last year.