President-elect Donald Trump would keep sanctions imposed by the Obama administration against Russia in place "for a period of time," he told the Wall Street Journal.
He said he would lift them should Russian President Vladimir Putin prove that he can be an ally.
"If you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody's doing some really great things?" Trump was quoted as saying during an interview with the Journal a week before he is inaugurated.
At stake is whether Trump will take a conciliatory stance against Russia after President Barack Obama's decision last month to hit Russian intelligence officials and agencies with sanctions for cyberattacks aimed at interfering with the 2016 presidential campaign. After 35 Russian operatives were expelled from the U.S., Russia's president said his government wouldn't retaliate because he was waiting for Trump to take office. Trump responded with a Twitter post in which he called Putin "very smart."
At a news conference on Wednesday, Trump acknowledged for the first time that Russia was responsible for hacking email accounts of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman. He has nonetheless said that he hopes to have a better relationship with Moscow and that he thinks there has been too much attention paid to the issue.
Trump was also quoted by the Journal as saying he would commit to a "One China" policy only after assessing the progress the world's second-largest economy makes on trade and currency issues. He said he isn't prepared to declare China a currency manipulator on Inauguration Day, as he said he would during his campaign. He also threatenedto impose 45 percent tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S.
"I would talk to them first," Trump was quoted as saying. "Certainly they are manipulators. But I'm not looking to do that."
Trump has questioned the U.S.'s long-standing policy of recognizing Beijing over the government in Taiwan, and criticized China for a perceived failure to further pressure North Korea over its nuclear program.
Trump has signaled that he's looking to shake up relationships with the two superpowers. He wants closer ties with Russia and says the U.S. can work with the Kremlin to fight Islamic terrorism. He has said he would get tough with China. His choice to lead a newly formed White House National Trade Council, Peter Navarro, a University of California, Irvine, economics professor, is a frequent and vocal critic of that country.
