As the situation involving Russian troops on the Ukrainian border evolves by the hour, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are weighing ways to deter Russia through sanctions imposed legislatively.
Democrats and Republicans in the Senate have proposed separate sets of sanctions with which to hit the Kremlin in the event of a Russian incursion in Ukraine.
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But negotiations over how and when to apply sanctions to Russia hit partisan roadblocks even as the threat of an imminent invasion came and went this week.
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Democrats unveiled a sanctions proposal in mid-January. Led by Sen. Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the legislation would target Russia’s banking industry and levy personal sanctions on senior Russian military and government officials.
The Democrats’ proposal would also greenlight $500 million in additional security assistance to Ukraine in the event of a Russian invasion.
But Senate Democrats have indicated they want their sanctions to apply only in the event of Russian military action against Ukraine.
Following the lead of the Biden administration, which has for months pursued diplomatic solutions to the tensions, the Senate Democratic proposal would allow space for talks to de-escalate the standoff before imposing sanctions.
Senate Republicans, however, are pushing for more immediate action.
Backed by 33 GOP senators, a proposal unveiled Tuesday would hit Russian individuals and banks with sanctions regardless of whether Russian President Vladimir Putin authorizes an invasion of Ukraine.
The Republican proposal would strike against the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a key energy pipeline between Germany and Russia that the United States and other European countries previously opposed because the project would increase Russia’s influence in Europe.
President Joe Biden last year walked back his predecessor’s opposition to the pipeline.
Republicans would also impose secondary sanctions on any bank that does business with Russian banks.
Sen. Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, noted Tuesday that Russia could still inflict pain on Ukraine without reaching the Democrats’ threshold for taking action.
“While a ‘military’ invasion has not yet occurred, there are other ways Russia can attack Ukraine that would be debilitating for Ukrainians and European security more generally,” Risch said in a statement.
The Republicans’ decision Tuesday to release a competing sanctions proposal rankled Democrats, threatening to dash hopes of hitting Russia with deterrents from Capitol Hill.
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Menendez on Tuesday accused his GOP colleagues of “partisan posturing” by choosing to release their proposal rather than pursue a bipartisan product.
The stalled talks on Capitol Hill underscore the deep divide between Republicans and the Biden administration on foreign policy, which the Ukraine crisis has only widened.
Republicans were fiercely critical of Biden’s decision to allow approval of the completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline to proceed without U.S. opposition and have accused Biden of sending signals of weakness through his handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal last year that emboldened leaders like Putin.
