A senior official in the Trump White House has said he was not aware of any plans to lift sanctions on Russia and did not think it would be a “smart” thing to do in the absence of any change in Moscow’s behaviour.

Kevin Harrington, the newly appointed deputy assistant to the president for strategic planning, cautioned on Monday that the fact he had not seen any draft plans to relax pressure on Moscow did not mean they did not exist, but he stressed he did not think it would be good policy.