Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is pushing for “Russia week” on the Senate floor, where senators would take up a trio of bills targeting Moscow, including a long-stalled sanctions effort.
The other bills would designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism over its kidnapping of Ukrainian children. The measure would set a schedule to send frozen Russian assets to Kyiv. Both of those bills cleared the Senate Foreign Relations Committee earlier this week.
While there’s some optimism about the effort, President Donald Trump’s constantly shifting positions on the Ukraine war have made it nearly impossible for Senate GOP leaders to execute on the bipartisan sanctions package. GOP defense hawks have been especially eager to pass that measure.
The whiplash was on full display over the past week when Senate Majority Leader John Thune said it was “time to move” on the sanctions bill within the next 30 days. Thune then said he was pressing “pause” after Trump teased a Budapest summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A day later, the White House said the Trump-Putin meeting was on ice.
Graham’s push. Graham told reporters Thursday he wants to see movement on “multiple fronts” in the coming weeks. Lawmakers are eager to turn up the heat on Moscow to accept Trump’s proposed ceasefire in Ukraine along the current frontline.
“I think President Trump’s proposal of a ceasefire at the line of contact is the right answer,” Graham said. “And until Putin agrees to that, I think we should continue the pressure.”
Graham’s call comes a day after the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies in an effort to push Moscow to the negotiating table.
Thune said Thursday he’s open to Graham’s idea and again praised the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill, which has nearly 90 co-sponsors.
Here’s more from Thune:
“I’ve been interested for some time in getting the sanctions bill on the floor. We’re trying to do that in concert…with the White House to make sure that we’re giving them the best possible opportunity to succeed in getting Russia to the table.”
The White House wants technical changes to the bill, which would impose a 500% tariff on countries buying Russian oil and uranium.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who co-authored the sanctions bill with Graham, said “there’s no excuse for postponing” the legislation now that Trump called off the Putin summit.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Jim Risch (R-Idaho) told us he’d like to see every Russia-related bill “that we have kicking around” included in a potential week of action. But Risch cautioned that finding floor time amid the shutdown will be tough.
“But look, it’s a priority for me, it’s a priority for the committee,” Risch added. “We’ll see what happens.”
