Upcoming US sanction on Turkey
US lawmakers approved defensive legislation that would compel President Donald Trump’s administration to impose sanctions on Turkey for its purchase of a Russian missile system, and to sanction companies associated with Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
And the two armed forces committees in the House and Senate reached consensus on a defense bill worth $ 740 billion, which Congress is expected to approve in the coming days.
Trump has threatened to veto the annual defense spending bill, but will face pressure to sign it because it funds military salaries, according to the Financial Times.
The defense law would force the White House to impose sanctions on Turkey for purchasing the Russian S-400 air defense missile system within 30 days of the act, and that would compel Trump to take action before he leaves office on January 20.
The defense bill requires Trump to impose at least 5 specific penalties in the law, including bans on US banking and real estate transactions, denial of US visas, and forcing US lenders to refuse to grant loans to any sanctioned companies.
The legislation also expands the list of sanctioned activities related to Nord Stream 2, the pipeline that will transport natural gas from Russia to Germany, to include insurance companies.
The National Defense Act would also hamper Trump’s plans to withdraw nearly a third of the 34,500 US troops stationed in Germany.
The president recently sacked his defense minister, in part over opposition to a troop withdrawal in Afghanistan.
Trump pledged this week to veto the bill unless Congress Deletes Act 230, which provides social media companies with legal protection over content posted on their platforms.
Trump accused social media of being biased against conservatives and trying to damage his reelection.
Lawmakers also refused to remove a provision that would force the Pentagon to rename the military bases named after Confederate generals associated with slavery support, despite Trump’s separate threat of Veto.
