US President Donald Trump has yet to sign off on legislation imposing tough new sanctions on Russia. The bill is aimed at punishing Moscow for interfering in the US’ 2016 presidential election.
It is an awkward issue for Trump, who has pushed for stronger ties with the Russian government.
Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett reports from Washington.
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country located in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the south.
Russia spans more than one-eighth of the Earth’s inhabited land area, stretching eleven time zones, and bordering 16 sovereign nations. Moscow is the country’s capital.
The Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991 and since 1993 Russia been governed as a federal semi-presidential republic. Russia is a major great power, with the world’s second-most powerful military, and the fourth-highest military expenditure. As a recognised nuclear-weapon state, the country possesses the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear weapons.