Donald Trump to keep sanctions on Russia, says top economic adviser

US President Donald Trump favours keeping in place the sanctions Western nations imposed on Russia over Moscow's role in the Ukrainian conflict, one of his top advisers said here

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump talk during a bilateral meeting at the Summit of the Heads of State and of Government of the G7, the group of most industrialized economies, plus the European Union. Pic/AFP

US President Donald Trump favours keeping in place the sanctions Western nations imposed on Russia over Moscow's role in the Ukrainian conflict, one of his top advisers said here.

Speaking to reporters at the G7 summit, Director of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn said: "We're not lowering our sanctions on Russia. If anything, we would probably look to get tougher on Russia."

Cohn said this just days after telling the media that the Trump administration was "looking at" the issue and had not yet arrived at a firm position.

Acknowledging that his previous comments created confusion about Trump's intentions, the presidential adviser said that he "should have just been much clearer", Xinhua news agency reported.

The possibility that Washington was open to softening the sanctions caused unease among some European allies.

President of the European Council Donald Tusk, appealed to the G7 nations -- the US, Germany, Japan, France, Britain, Italy, and Canada -- to show unity on the question of the Russian sanctions.

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