The U.S. Senate on Wednesday narrowly upheld a Trump administration plan to lift sanctions against three companies linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Eleven Republicans in the Senate joined Democrats in an effort to enforce the sanctions against the giant aluminum firm Rusal and two companion companies, but their effort failed on a 57-42 vote, three short of the number needed to advance the measure.

Numerous lawmakers had questioned the U.S. Treasury Department's decision in December to lift the sanctions that were imposed on Deripaska's core businesses — Rusal; its parent, En+; and the power firm EuroSibEnergo — in response to Moscow's takeover of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky reiterated that Deripaska's influence over the companies was being limited and called the vote a "Democratic stunt," even as the 11 Republicans joined Democrats in the unsuccessful effort to overturn Treasury's action.

Source : VOA