the issue
US lawmakers from both parties are increasingly calling for more sanctions on Russia as President Donald Trump’s efforts to broker an end to its invasion of Ukraine remain unsuccessful.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has resisted Trump’s demands for a ceasefire and skipped face-to-face negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv earlier this month despite a challenge from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to join.
Trump claimed that both sides would begin ceasefire negotiations following a call with Putin last week, but there is plenty of skepticism that Putin will be willing to end his military campaign unless he faces more international pressure.
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the bond
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a Trump ally on Capitol Hill, is leading a bipartisan charge in the Senate for secondary sanctions on countries that do business with Russia, a proposal that would be crushing for the Russian economy.
Specifically, it would impose a 500% tariff on US imports from countries that purchase Russian oil, gas, and other products. Supporters say that it is aimed at China, which relies heavily on Russian energy, but it would also impact US allies in Europe as well as India.
The legislation has already attracted about 80 cosponsors — a level of support virtually unheard of in the upper chamber.
“We have given Russia plenty of opportunity to find an honorable and just end to this war. They are not interested and they’re not going to change until we up the ante,” Graham said on the Senate floor last week. He left open the possibility that the House could move to force a vote on the bill using a discharge petition. “If we have to, we will,” Graham said.
Thus far, Senate GOP leaders have deferred to the White House for a greenlight to move the bill. But Russia hawks are growing more impatient by the day.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., the top Democratic cosponsor of the legislation, said he would support the use of a discharge petition, but made clear it would be easier to move ahead with White House backing.
“I’m hoping [Trump] will bless it, even tacitly, and that we would move forward without any resistance from the White House,” Blumenthal told Semafor.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, accused Putin of “playing the president” and “trying to drag this out as long as possible.”
“I think what will change the dynamic is putting more pressure on Russia, from the US,” she told Semafor.
The View From the state department
The Trump administration has said that it wants to allow diplomatic negotiations to play out at least a little longer, and sees threats of sanctions as a hindrance to those efforts. “If you start threatening sanctions, the Russians will stop talking,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a Senate committee last week.
But that doesn’t mean the administration won’t eventually call on Congress to act, and Trump is already starting to change his tune. Over the weekend, he said his administration may move forward with additional penalties on Russia as he criticized Putin over a recent barrage of attacks on Ukraine.
Trump may well conclude that moving forward with more sanctions is the only way to force the Russians to the table.
Notable
- Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., isn’t a fan of the sanctions bill, telling Semafor that it would “basically place an embargo on the entire world.”
- European officials said that Trump told their leaders Putin isn’t ready to end his war in Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported, an account that was disputed by the White House.
- The European Union and UK moved forward with new Russia sanctions last week, Reuters reported.
Burgess Everett contributed reporting.