title: U.S. Senate Leader McConnell opposes lifting Russia sanctions: Politico
text: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate’s Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Friday he opposes lifting any sanctions on Russia, a day before President Donald Trump is to have his first official telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “These sanctions were imposed because of their behavior in Crimea, eastern Ukraine and now we know they’ve been messing around in our elections as well,” McConnell said in an interview with Politico on Friday. “If there’s any country in the world that doesn’t deserve sanctions relief, it’s Russia.” 