Republican senators are urging President Trump to give them the green light to vote on a Russia sanctions package in the wake of Moscow’s incursion into Poland’s air space and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s seeming disinterest in ending the war with Ukraine.
Senate Republicans have pushed for months for Trump to back the chamber’s bipartisan package that would punish nations that import Russian oil, gas and uranium, only to see it languish without his support.
That mood is changing.
“I think it’s time for the sanctions bill to come to the floor,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), a member of GOP leadership, told The Hill. “I think the president’s got to make the final call on that, so I respect that, but I’m ready to vote for that.”
“It’s just a compounding situation,” she continued. “Every time it looks like Putin’s at the table and then he turns around and just pounds Kyiv or something like that. I think we’re getting closer on sanctions.”
Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) rolled out the package in mid-July, but it has remained dormant as Trump gave negotiations with Putin a full go, headlined by their meeting last month in Alaska.
But little diplomatic progress has been made since that sit-down and the ensuing White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders. And in that time Putin has repeatedly launched barrages of drones and missiles into Ukraine, including the heaviest attack on Kyiv of the war on Sunday, which damaged a key government building.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters Wednesday that Poland’s shooting down of Russian drones in its airspace has “intensified interest” among Senate Republicans in the bill being brought to the floor expeditiously.
“There’s a lot of, I would say, discussion now around, ‘We need to move.’ … Our members are very interested,” Thune told reporters, labeling the decision to fly drones over Polish airspace a “provocative act.”
Multiple Republicans indicated they expect to lobby Trump to support the bill, especially after he pushed the European Union to slap China and India with 100 percent tariffs as part of a pressure campaign against Moscow.
Graham told reporters he expected to meet with Trump on Wednesday afternoon.
Trump on Wednesday expressed his displeasure with Russia’s action.
“What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The Graham-Blumenthal package would allow Trump to impose a 500 percent tariff of his own on countries that purchase Russian energy, with China and India atop the list.
“He’s going to put more tariffs on other countries that buy cheap Russian oil. Europe needs to follow. If they don’t they’re going to make a huge mistake,” Graham told reporters. “The only way you end this war is to make China, India and Brazil pay such a price to keep propping Putin up and quit. They push him to the table.”
“[Putin] could care less about how many Russians die. He can evade sanctions. He’s never been my target. My target is those who buy cheap Russian oil to keep his war machine going,” Graham continued.
The decision by Warsaw to shoot down the drone marked the first time a NATO state has fired on Russia since the Ukraine war erupted more than three years ago, with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk declaring that Putin crossed the line.
“I have no reason to claim we’re on the brink of war, but a line has been crossed,” Tusk told the Polish Parliament. “This situation brings us the closest we have been to open conflict since World War II.”
But the question of when a vote will happen still remains unclear.
Thune noted there were still “technical” issues with the bill that need to be ironed out and that he has a “couple of conversations” that have to take place before he schedules a vote.
Overall, the package has 84 co-sponsors, putting it well clear of a potential presidential veto. On top of the tariffs on various countries, the bill also includes additional sanctions on foreign firms that back Russian energy production.
Blumenthal, the Democratic lead sponsor, emphasized Russia’s latest action “must be met promptly” with backing for NATO allies and passage of the package.
“Putin’s reckless, brazen attack on a NATO ally must be met with more than condemnation. Trump’s ham-handed attempt at diplomacy has only appeased & emboldened Putin,” the Democrat wrote on social media. “NATO, led by the US, should quickly deliver arms & equipment to sustain Ukraine as it fights for its freedom. Military aid, in concert with bone-crushing sanctions on Russia & its oil customers, will send an unmistakable message to Putin: Ukraine & its allies will not balk in the face of adversity.”
“I call on Leader Thune to place the Graham-Blumenthal Sanctioning Russia Act on the floor for a vote immediately,” he added.
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