Trump Would Consider Lifting Obama’s Russia Sanctions If Moscow Cooperates With Washington To Fight Terrorism

President-elect Donald Trump has said he would consider lifting sanctions imposed against Russia by the Obama administration if Moscow cooperates with the U.S. to achieve its goals, especially in the fight against international terrorism. He also said he would not commit his administration to the “One China” policy until Beijing ends its currency and trade policies that are hurting the U.S. economy.

According to Trump, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published Friday evening, he will keep the sanction against Russia “at least for a period of time.” But he would consider removing them if Russia cooperates with the U.S. in key areas, including the fight against the threat of international terrorism.

“If you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody’s doing some really great things?”

The sanctions in question were imposed late last December by the Obama administration, following allegations that the Russian state sponsored cyber attacks against major U.S. institutions, including the Democratic National Committee (D.N.C.).

Multiple U.S. intelligence agencies agreed that the thousands of emails and documents from the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s campaign published by WikiLeaks came ultimately from Russian hackers and that the Russian state ordered the leaks to help Trump win the election.

Obama signed an executive order that outlined sanctions against Russia in response to the alleged hacks and interference in the U.S. election process. The sanctions included the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats from the U.S.

Media reports claim that hours after Obama announced the sanctions, a phone conversation occurred between Michael Flynn, Trump’s national security adviser, and Sergei Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the U.S.

Sean Spicer, White House press secretary for the incoming Trump administration, confirmed media reports that Flynn spoke with a Russian official after the Obama administration announced the sanctions. He said the call was meant to exchange “logistical information.”

Trump also said during the WSJ interview that he plans to meet with Russia’s President Vlaidmir Putin soon after the January 20 inauguration of his administration.

“I understand that they would like to meet, and that’s absolutely fine with me,” Trump said, according to WSJ.

The WSJ also asked if Trump would continue Washington’s decades-old “One China” policy, a major element of U.S. relations with China, which effectively recognizes Taiwan as part of China.

“Everything is under negotiation, including One China,” Trump answered.

Trump caused a diplomatic row between Washington and Beijing early in December when, after his election victory, he accepted a congratulatory call from Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and later raised questions about the “One China” policy. Trump’s phone conversation with Taiwan’s president was the first time that a U.S. president or president-elect has been known to accept a call from a Taiwanese leader since Washington established diplomatic relations with China in 1979, according to CNN.

In the interview with WSJ, Trump defended his decision to accept the call, saying, “It would have been very rude not to accept the phone call.”

“We sold them $2 billion of military equipment last year,” he said. “We can sell them $2 billion of the latest and greatest military equipment but we’re not allowed to accept a phone call.”

Trump has been attacking China since his general election campaign. He criticized China repeatedly over its currency and trade policies. He accused the country of manipulating its current to the detriment of U.S. interest. And since his general election victory, he has said that he would declare China a “currency manipulator” after he takes office.

But during Friday’s interview with WSJ, he said he would not label China a currency manipulator as soon as he takes office. He said that although the Chinese were “certainly manipulators,” he would first hold talks with them.

“I would talk to them first… Certainly, they are manipulators. But I’m not looking to do that.”

But he insisted that China’s currency policy was hurting the U.S. economy.

“Instead of saying, ‘We’re devaluating our currency,’ they say, ‘Oh, our currency is dropping.’ It’s not dropping. They’re doing it on purpose,” Trump said.

“Our companies can’t compete with them now because our currency is strong and it’s killing us.”

Trump’s latest remarks followed heated controversy that erupted after CNN reported that intelligence officials recently briefed President Barack Obama about damaging allegations of Trump’s ties with Russia contained in a 35-page dossier compiled by Christopher Steele, a former British M16 spy. The dossier also claimed that Russian intelligence officials admitted that they had obtained compromising information about Trump that the Kremlin could use to blackmail him.

Meanwhile, Trump has denied the allegations and derided them as “fake news.”

But the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee announced Friday that it would launch an investigation into the alleged Trump-Moscow ties and allegations that Russians hacked the DNC and other Democratic Party institutions to help Trump win the 2016 general election.

[Featured Image by Bastiaan Slabbers/Getty Images]