House rejects US govt's decision of lifting sanctions linked to Russian oligarch's firms

The US House of Representatives on Thursday overwhelmingly rejected the Donald Trump administration's decision of rolling back of sanctions on firms linked to Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, who is considered a close aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a major rebuke of Trump, the House passed the resolution 362-53, thereby rejecting the move by the US government to lift the sanctions on certain Russian entities. Interestingly, 130 Republicans sided with the Democrats to back the vote, The Hill reported.

The House vote came a day after Democrats in the Senate narrowly failed to pass a motion on preventing the lifting of sanctions, in a vote that also saw 11 Republicans siding with the Democrats.

The resolution which needed a 60-vote majority to pass, fell short by just three votes, with the final count at 57-42.

In April last year, the US imposed sanctions on him and 23 other Russian nationals for doing "malign activities," that also includes alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election.

In a statement from the Treasury Department, Deripaska "has been accused of threatening the lives of business rivals, illegally wiretapping a government official, and taking part in extortion and racketeering".

It added that there are allegations that Deripaska ordered the murder of a businessman, and had links to a Russian organised crime group.

Deripaska had maintained close ties with Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign manager, according to officials.

Manafort is awaiting a sentence after he was convicted on charges of tax fraud, bank fraud and failure to report foreign bank accounts last year.