USA senators push sanctions to send Putin election meddling warning

India's government declined immediate comment, and a defence official said the U.S. Congress had still to vote on the modifications to the legislation which would then be signed by Trump into law.

Putin has denied that Russian Federation tried to influence the 2016 presidential election after the US intelligence community concluded Russian Federation interfered through cyber attacks and social media in a bid to boost Trump's candidacy.

"President Putin, he just said it's not Russian Federation".

The US President backed up his eyebrow-raising statement by insisting "no President has been tougher on Russian Federation than me" and "they definitely don't want Trump!"

Undaunted by the backlash in his own party to his first meeting, Mr Trump has invited Mr Putin to a White House meeting some time this autumn. Bolton's statement suggested the White House would wait until next year, after special counsel Robert Mueller wrapped up his investigation into Russian influence of the 2016 election. He states often that Russian meddling in USA elections is fake news.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio wants a vote on a bill called DETER that would impose new sanctions if United States intelligence officials determine Russian Federation meddled in USA elections.

Shortly after Trump's appearance with Putin in Helsinki, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats issued an unusual statement reaffirming his view that Russia's election attacks are already ongoing - something Trump's post on Tuesday did not.

In Wednesday's White House statement, Bolton indicated the Mueller probe would be over by January 1.

Other times, he says he accepts the conclusions of the US intelligence community, which have since been endorsed by the Senate intelligence committee.

Democrats need to take just two seats in the Senate in November to gain a majority.

House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, also a Republican, said on Thursday Putin would not be invited to address a joint session of Congress if he accepts Trump's invitation to visit, saying that was an honor reserved for allies.

"My guess is [Trump] wants to see if there's a change in behavior", said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the Democratic leader on the Intelligence Committee, and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In addition to helping state election officials obtain security clearances so they can be briefed on the latest threats to elections, Homeland Security officials also offer remote scanning of their networks to identify any vulnerabilities as well as intensive cybersecurity reviews that involve onsite exams.

The new sanctions push also comes as Pompeo prepares to go to Capitol Hill to testify in front of the Senate Foreign Relations committee - the first member of Trump's national security team to go to Congress in the wake of the meeting with Putin, which included a almost two-hour one-on-one sit-down with the Russian President.