WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd July, 2020) US Congress must impose sanctions on Russia immediately for allegedly putting bounties on American troops in Afghanistan, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an interview.
Earlier in the day, US Senator Robert Menendez introduced sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu related to allegations that Russia paid Taliban militants to kill US troops in Afghanistan.
"We must institute sanctions against Russia and we must to do it right away," Pelosi told MSNBC on Wednesday.
Last week, the New York Times citing unnamed officials claimed President Donald Trump had been briefed on the matter, which the US president has denied. Trump called the article another attempt at a Russia hoax to make Republicans look bad in an election year.
The US intelligence community has not reached a consensus on the matter, so Trump was never briefed, a White House security adviser said on Wednesday.
Russian officials have denied the allegations as false and characterized them as being part of the internal political infighting in the United States.
