German minister says Trump to ask EU opinion on Russian sanctions

MOSCOW, Aug 1 (PRIME) -- U.S. President Donald Trump has not yet decided whether to sign a bill introducing new anti-Russian sanctions and plans to consult with the E.U., German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Tuesday.

“Some time is yet left. It is obvious that President Trump has not decided whether and how he will toughen the sanctions against Russia. The law envisages preliminary consultations with us, the Europeans, before it can happen,” Gabriel said.

He also said that the E.U. must support the U.S. efforts to end the Ukrainian crisis but not allow the U.S. to conduct harmful industrial policies. “We will protect ourselves from industrial policies under a motto ‘America first’ under the guise of sanctions.”

Last week both chambers of the U.S. parliament a bill, which prohibits companies to invest more than U.S. $1 million in a single payment or more than $5 million during the course of a year in construction of Russian export pipelines, as well as provision of goods, services, technologies and information support for the construction. The U.S. will continue standing against the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline.

The European Commission said in a statement that it is ready to respond if the new U.S. sanctions against Russia are implemented disregarding the European worries.

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