"The President [Obama] does intend to sign the piece of legislation that was passed by Congress, but we [White House administration] do have some concerns about that piece of legislation because while it preserve flexibility, it does send a confusing message to our allies, because it includes some sanctions language that does not reflect the consultations that are ongoing," Josh Earnest announced.
The White House spokesperson also stressed that the Obama administration is still working closely with its European allies to maximize the impact of the sanctions regime on the Russian economy.
"We [the United States and European Union] have tried to optimize the impact on Russia's economy while at the same time mitigating the impact of the sanctions regime on American businesses…targeting the impact on the Russian economy in a way that doesn't have dramatic spillover effects into the broader economy," Earnest said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier on Tuesday that there are serious reasons to believe that the Western sanctions against Russia are aimed at creating a regime change in the country.
The foreign minister agreed that the restrictive measures were negatively affecting Russia, but said every time Russia has had to go through similar situations in the past, it has always emerged stronger.
Last week, the US House and Senate passed the Ukraine Freedom Support Act, which is now awaiting US President Barack Obama's approval. The bill stipulates providing lethal and non-lethal aid to the Ukrainian government and imposing a new round of economic sanctions on Russia, accused by the West of interfering in Ukraine's internal affairs.
Before approving the Ukraine Freedom Support Act, President Obama appeared hesitant to pass additional sanctions on Russia and cautioned that they could be "counterproductive" also warning that they might not be enough to make the Russian leadership change its position on Ukraine.
The United States, the European Union and their allies have already imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia, despite Moscow having repeatedly denied its involvement in the situation in Ukraine.
