(VOVworld) - The US Treasury Department on Thursday eased economic sanctions on Russia, allowing some cyber-security transactions with the Russian Federal Security Service, accused of meddling in the US electoral process.

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Russian officials applauded the move as signaling a thaw in relations with Washington. The Trump administration denied any easing of sanctions, describing the changes as routine tweaking of complicated policy.

The move by Treasury makes changes to sanctions initially imposed by President Obama in April 2015 and strengthened in December in reaction to alleged "malicious cyber-enabled activities" by Russia's security service, known as the FSB, to meddle in the US electoral process.

Speaking to the UN Security Council on Thursday, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said Washington will not remove any sanctions on Russia until Crimea is returned to Kiev.