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Donald Trump loosens sanctions preventing Russia intelligence agencies from cyberspying Donald Trump loosens sanctions preventing Russia intelligence agencies from cyberspying
(35 minutes later)
Donald Trump's government has loosened sanctions imposed by Barack Obama on Russia's Federal Security Service.Donald Trump's government has loosened sanctions imposed by Barack Obama on Russia's Federal Security Service.
Mre follows... A notice posted on the Treasury Department website said that sanctions imposed by Mr Obama - first in 2015 and then tightened late last year amid accusations of Russian hacking of political parties - had been eased. 
“All transactions and activities otherwise prohibited pursuant to Executive Order 13694…as amended by EO 13757, are authorised that are necessary and ordinarily incident to,” says the notice.
Russia’s Tass News Agency said: “US authorities have weakened the sanctions regime against the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB).”
It said that President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, did not immediately have a comment on the development. “First we need to understand what is at stake”, it quoted him as saying.
There had been speculation that Mr Trump was set to ease or lift some of his predecessors sanctions against Russia ahead of his first conversation last weekend with President Vladimir Putin.
The amended order, announced by the Treasury in December 2016, blocked four additional Russian intelligence agents and five entities – including the FSB – from obtaining property for use in cyber-attacks against the US.  
It gave the Treasury the authority to determining “that circumstances no longer warrant the blocking of the property and interests in property of a person”.
The FSB was the only Russian intelligence entity named in the amendment announced Thursday, leaving much of the emergency action taken by Mr Obama intact.
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