US Congress may tighten sanctions against Moscow

EghtesadOnline: The US Congress may soon tighten anti-Russian sanctions if no progress is made in the negotiations on a peaceful settlement in Ukraine, the US administration warned Russia about this, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with CBS News.

He was asked to comment on the possibility of approving a bill to tighten restrictions on Russia. "I think in the past, we've asked [Congress] to give us a little time to see if we can make some progress on our talks [on Ukraine]. But we've also been pretty clear with the Russian side for weeks now, going back six or seven weeks. We've been communicating to the Russian side that this effort was being undertaken," Rubio said.

"But we've advised the Russians repeatedly now for almost two months that this was coming if no progress was made. So, I think that's just coming to fruition now," he added.

Reuters reported on Friday that a number of US lawmakers have stepped up calls for tougher sanctions against Moscow amid what they say is "little progress in ceasefire talks" in Istanbul.