Prominent Republican senators are urging President Donald Trump to get behind sanctions on Russia which would significantly escalate pressure on the country to come to the negotiating table, after attempts to broker a peace deal with Ukraine have stalled.
Trump notably expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, arguing the Russian leader is “playing with fire” by refusing to agree to a ceasefire and launching some of the largest drone and missile attacks in the years-long war over the past few days. Several GOP senators, led by Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, are calling on Trump to impose sanctions on Russia as a consequence for rejecting the president’s peace overtures — and suggesting Putin has no intention of ending the war without U.S. pressure.
The president is mulling the move after Putin has thus far rebuffed the president’s attempts to broker a negotiated peace deal, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
However, many analysts have noted that a wave of sanctions against Russia, implemented during former President Joe Biden’s sole term in office, largely failed to hurt Russia’s standing in the war — and if anything, helped it, The Daily Caller News Foundation previously reported.
“I appreciate all that President @realDonaldTrump has done to try to end this terrible war,” Graham wrote on X Tuesday. ” But to end any war, you must have willing partners. As of yet, Putin is not willing.”
“I believe president trump was sincere when he thought his friendship w Putin wld end the war,” Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley wrote on X Monday in his signature style. “Now that being the case ITS TIME FOR SANCTIONS STRONG ENUF SO PUTIN KNOWS ‘game over.’”
Graham, well known for his hawkish stance on the Russo-Ukraine War, introduced bipartisan legislation with Democratic Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal in April to enact sanctions against Russia and countries supporting its war effort against Ukraine. The legislation has accumulated 80 cosponsors, including all members of Senate GOP leadership and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.
The sanctions bill would also impose a 500% tariff on imported goods from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other products.
Graham wrote in a letter to the Wall Street Journal editorial board Tuesday that the bill was crafted in coordination with the White House. He also claimed in the letter that the legislation “would put Russia on a trade island.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has suggested the Senate will take up sanctions legislation if Trump voices his approval for ramping up economic pressure on Russia.
“It’s time for him [Putin] to come to the table in good faith and make a serious proposal for an immediate ceasefire that can lead to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on the Senate floor Thursday. “If Russia is not willing to engage in serious diplomacy, the Senate will work with the Trump administration to consider additional sanctions to force Putin to start negotiating.”
Graham has specifically called out China by name for propping up Russia’s war effort while Trump is urging the country to negotiate a peace deal.
“This latest outrage by Russia will not go unaddressed,” Graham said Sunday referring to a recent spate of Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine that killed at least 13 people. “Without China’s support, Putin’s war machine comes to a halt.”
Former Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich argued Monday that Putin has no interest in peace with Ukraine.
“Putin will only stop if he has no choice,” Gingrich wrote on X. “Any other strategy is wishful thinking which will extend the war and cost more innocent lives.”
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