Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) will brief senators on the war in Ukraine on Wednesday, their latest step to build momentum for a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill.
In a brief interview with the Washington Examiner, Blumenthal said Ukrainian representatives have been invited to discuss the state of the war after a second round of peace talks with Russia ended without a breakthrough.
The meeting, open to all 100 senators, comes days after Blumenthal and Graham met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Blumenthal declined to provide further details on the representatives who will attend but confirmed that Zelensky would not be in Washington.
“It’s on the situation in Ukraine,” Blumenthal said. “More specifically, it’s on the Russia sanctions bill and why we need to do it right away.”
The two senators, both longtime Russia hawks, have garnered more than 80 co-sponsors for their legislation, which would sanction Russian officials and financial institutions if Moscow doesn’t negotiate a settlement with Ukraine.
If implemented, the bill would also levy a 500% tariff on countries that purchase Russian oil or natural gas.
On Monday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) indicated the sanctions bill could be brought to the Senate floor later this month, but Republicans are taking their cues from the White House for now.
President Donald Trump views the sanctions as a “tool in his toolbox,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday but indicated that he’s not ready to use them. Leavitt cited the direct talks as progress, even as some Republicans warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin is biding his time and not interested in peace.
THUNE SAYS SENATE ‘READY TO HELP’ WITH RUSSIA SANCTIONS IF PEACE TALKS FALTER
“It’s because of the president’s insistence and determination to get this war to an end that these countries sat down yesterday,” Leavitt said in a press briefing. “So, he’s willing to use sanctions if he needs them, and the Senate and Capitol Hill understand that the president is the commander in chief, and he’s leading United States foreign policy as he should.”
The latest round of talks yielded commitments to release more prisoners, but the two sides are nowhere close to a negotiated peace. Russia launched its largest drone and missile attack of the war in late May, while Ukraine successfully destroyed dozens of warplanes this week in a surprise drone strike deep inside Russian territory.
