Senate Republican leader John Thune said on Wednesday 10 September that there is “intensified interest” in passing legislation imposing sanctions on Russia in light of recent actions by Moscow.
Source: Politico, a Brussels-based politics and policy news organisation
Details: Thune told reporters: “There’s a lot of, I would say, discussion around, ‘we need to move’.” He added that “our members are very interested” in potential legislative action.
His comments came after Russian drones entered Polish airspace on Wednesday and Russia conducted strikes on Kyiv over the weekend.
Thune described Russia’s recent actions as a “provocative act” and “an attempt to test the US and our NATO allies”.
A bipartisan bill spearheaded by Senator Lindsey Graham has stalled in the Senate despite having enough support to overcome a hypothetical veto.
The measure would impose tariffs on countries importing Russian energy and introduce secondary sanctions against foreign firms supporting Russian energy production.
Senate aides, including Graham and Thune, are working with the White House to address what Thune called “technical” issues in the legislation. Graham is set to discuss progress on these talks with US President Donald Trump this week.
“Mr President, Congress is with you. We stand ready to pass legislation authorising bone-crushing new sanctions and tariffs that can be deployed at your discretion. Our goal is to empower you as you deal with this mounting threat,” Graham wrote on X (Twitter) on Wednesday.
However, Thune did not say he was ready to bring the bill to a vote, noting that he needs to have a “couple of conversations” before that happens.
He has repeatedly stated that he needs the green light from Trump before advancing the bill in the Senate.
Background:
Earlier, US officials stated that European countries must stop buying Russian oil and gas if they want Washington to tighten sanctions against Moscow.On Sunday 7 September, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the United States is ready to increase pressure on Russia if Europe does the same.
Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
From Ukrainska Pravda via this RSS feed