White House statements on Russian sanctions are contradictory, says Kremlin

The Kremlin has said it is hearing contradictory statements from the White House on new sanctions on Russia that have been approved by the U.S. Congress. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s has said he and President Donald Trump did not believe the new sanctions would “be helpful to our efforts” on diplomacy with Russia. But the White House has also said Trump intends to sign the sanctions into law.Asked about Tillerson’s comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “ “It is of course important that the President of the United States is thinking about the current state of affairs and about the prospects for bilateral relations in general. But so far we have not heard any such statements. At the same time we note there is a certain contradiction in the statements being voiced in the White House.”Trump has been clear that he wants to improve relations with Russia, a desire that has been hampered after the U.S. Congress voted last week by overwhelming margins for sanctions to punish the Russian government over interference in the 2016 presidential election, annexation of Crimea and other perceived violations of international norms.U.S. congressional panels and a special counsel are investigating after U.S. intelligence agencies found that Russia interfered to help the Republican against Democrat Hillary Clinton. Moscow denies any meddling and Trump denies any collusion by his campaign.