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Donald Trump’s administration eased sanctions on Russia today to make it easier for US companies to sell products in the country.

But the President and his press spokesperson both went on to deny this represented a loosening of sanctions on Putin’s government.

The US Treasury issued a statement saying sanctions imposed by Barack Obama in 2015 - and tightened late last year after Russia faced claims they had hacked US political parties - had been loosened.

The change would allow US businesses to apply for licences from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor organisation to the KGB to sell US technology products in Russia.

(Image: Reuters)

The US Intelligence community widely laid the blame for the hacking of high ranking members of the Democratic party ahead of November's election at the door of the FSB.

Representative Eric Salwell, a Democrat from California, said in a statement: “Easing these sanctions allows Russia to sharpen its knives and import tools from the United States to hack us again”

But White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied there was any shift in policy, and said the Treasury’s move was a “regular course of action.”

He said: “We’re not easing sanctions. From what I understand, it’s a fairly common practice for the Treasury Department after sanctions are put in place to go back and to look at whether or not there needs to be specific carve-outs for different, you know, either different industries or products and services that need to be going back and forth."

(Image: Getty)

Asked about the easing of sanctions during a meeting with Harley Davidson execs this afternoon, Trump shrugged and said: "I haven’t eased anything"

Donald Trump has frequently spoken of how he wants to have a "good relationship" with Russia.

During a joint press conference with Theresa May on Friday, Trump said if the US could have - as it does with Britain - a great relationship with Russia and China "I'm all for that. No guarantees, but if we can that would be a positive, not a negative."

Theresa May was a little more frosty.

She said: "We've been very clear. We want to see the Minsk agreement fully implemented. We believe the sanctions should continue until we see that Minsk agreement fully implemented, and we've been continuing to argue that inside the European Union."

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Meanwhile, it’s been claimed there was no official White House readout of President Trump’s first phone call with Vladimir Putin because recording equipment had been disabled.

The White House issued a vague, one paragraph statement saying Trump had received a “congratulatory call” from Putin.

But the Kremlin issued a ten paragraph readout of the call, noting issues including terrorism, the crisis in Ukraine, Iran, North Korea and Syria had been discussed.

Ilan Berman, vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council think thank, speaking during a forum on American-Trukish relations, claimed Trump’s team turned off its recording equipment during the conversation.

Recordings were made of all President Trump's conversations with world leaders with the exception of President Putin, and readouts were provided to the media.