US President Donald Trump sent mixed signals about U.S. sanctions against Russia in a conversation with reporters released by the White House on Thursday.
"We have very heavy sanctions on Russia right now," Trump told reporters on Air Force One. "I would not and have never even thought about taking them off. Somebody said, Donald Trump wants to — I don’t want to take them off."
But Trump also confirmed that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the pending congressional sanctions legislation during their meeting last week at the G-20 summit in Germany and left open the door to easing sanctions if his administration could gain something from Putin in the process.
"I would never take the sanctions off until something is worked out to our satisfaction and everybody’s satisfaction in Syria and in Ukraine," Trump said.
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