The Trump administration has been working to lift Russian sanctions for months now

Rep. Adam Schiff stands in front of a photo of Trump and Sergei Lavrov
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

As soon as President Trump took office, his administration began moving to lift sanctions on Russia and return the two diplomatic compounds former President Barack Obama had just seized over Russian espionage and election meddling, Michael Isikoff reports at Yahoo News. This alarmed former Obama administration officials and State Department staffers, who "fought an intense, behind-the-scenes battle" to stop the efforts, Isikoff reports, citing "multiple sources familiar with the events."

"There was serious consideration by the White House to unilaterally rescind the sanctions," said Dan Fried, who resigned from the State Department in late February after serving as chief U.S. coordinator for sanctions policy. After receiving several "panicky" calls from U.S. officials, he said, he and Tom Malinowski, Obama's assistant secretary of state for human rights, separately approached several senators, urging them to enshrine the sanctions in law.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.