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A massive sanctions threat hangs over Putin

Politico

4 hours ago

Business
Politico

A massive sanctions threat hangs over Putin

With help from Felicia Schwartz, Diya Contractor, Jordain Carney, Nahal Toosi and Daniel Lippman Subscribe here | Email Robbie | Email Eric There's a major new threat to Russia's already sanction-battered economy. It's sitting in procedural limbo in the U.S. Senate — at least for now. Sens. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-S.C.) and RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-Conn.) introduced a sweeping sanctions bill two months ago that would impose direct and secondary sanctions on Russia's wartime economy. So far, the Republican-controlled majority has yet to bring the bill to the floor for a vote to give President DONALD TRUMP and his administration room to negotiate peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. But that may soon change. Congress' patience with Moscow is wearing thin as Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN slow-walks peace talks. The sanctions bill already has 80 co-sponsors, meaning it is all but guaranteed to pass. That puts more pressure on Senate Majority Leader JOHN THUNE from his caucus to move the bill forward. 'It's got a huge number, bipartisan number of cosponsors on the legislation, and I think a genuine interest in doing something to make clear to Russia that they need to get the table,' Thune told reporters today when asked about the sanctions bill. 'We're working with the White House to try and ensure that what we do and when we do it works well with the negotiations that they've got underway.' He said the bill 'very well could be something that we would take up in this work period,' but didn't offer more specifics on timing. Graham and Blumenthal visited Kyiv over the weekend and stopped in Brussels today. Graham said he expects the Senate to consider the sanctions package before a major Group of 7, or G7, summit in two weeks. Their bill has generated a lot of buzz in Ukraine and European capitals. Kyiv's closest allies see it as the best way to tighten the screws on Russia in the Trump era. European Commission President URSULA VON DER LEYEN said she welcomed the prospect of more U.S. sanctions on Russia after meeting with Graham and Blumenthal today. The meeting came as the EU prepared its own sanctions package against Russia. 'Pressure works, as the Kremlin understands nothing else,' von der Leyen said in a statement. Trump has occasionally vented about Russia in posts on Truth Social as negotiations over ending the war hit a slump, but he has yet to impose new significant punishments on Moscow. The Trump administration's support for moving forward with the bill would offer the clearest sign from Kyiv and wary NATO allies that Trump was finally ready to play hardball with Putin. 'Now we are really expecting [Trump] to support sanctions, to stop the war, at least to go to the first stage of stopping this war — a ceasefire,' Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY told reporters today. 'I believe that with the strong position of the United States of America, we will be able to achieve this faster,' he added. U.S. weapons shipments to Ukraine, set up during the Biden administration, are still flowing and Biden-era sanctions against Russia remain in place. The secondary sanctions portion of the Graham-Blumenthal bill is particularly significant, and calls for a 500 percent tariff on imported goods from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other commodities. Russia and Ukraine held their latest round of peace talks in Turkey today. Though both sides agreed to exchange a new batch of severely wounded and ill prisoners, the discussion didn't yield any major breakthroughs, as our colleague Veronika reports from Kyiv. The Inbox CONCESSIONS: The Trump administration is giving ground on its insistence that Iran not be allowed to enrich uranium as part of a nuclear deal, Axios reports today. In the most recent U.S. proposal to Iran, transmitted over the weekend, the Trump administration said Tehran could undertake limited low-level uranium enrichment for a to-be-determined period of time. At the start of the negotiations, Trump's Special Envoy STEVE WITKOFF had initially said that Iran could be allowed to enrich uranium in a deal if subject to strict monitoring and verification. But he soon backtracked after facing criticism from Republicans and said the deal would not allow any Iranian enrichment. Privately, however, administration officials said that they might allow Tehran to enrich uranium at low levels — a red line for the Islamic Republic in accepting a deal. The shift suggests that the Trump team is showing flexibility to see if Tehran is serious about reaching an agreement. SPIDER WEB: Ukraine launched a massive drone attack across Russia that damaged or destroyed 41 of Moscow's long-range strategic bombers, as our colleague Veronika Melkozerova reports today from Kyiv. 'Russia has now understood the true meaning of the word demilitarization,' a Ukrainian security official told Veronika. Analysts in Washington said the impact of the attacks was significant, not just as a boost for Ukraine's wartime morale but for Russia's military capabilities. 'Russia routinely uses these bombers to conduct missile strikes in Ukraine, often hitting civilian targets. Taking out these bombers reduces Russia's long-range strike capacity and raises the cost of Moscow's continued aggression,' said JOHN HARDIE, deputy director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Russia program. LEAST BAD OPTION: The Trump administration has said it won't oppose the transitional Syrian government's plan to integrate thousands of former jihadist rebel fighters into its army, as Trump's Turkey and Syria envoy THOMAS BARRACK told Reuters today. It marks a shift from past U.S. policy, as previous administrations opposed incorporating these fighters into the government's armed forces. He added that it was better to incorporate the fighters into a state project to rebuild the military rather than exclude them, which could leave them vulnerable to reformist groups that could challenge the fragile new government, or lead them to link up with other extremist militant groups such as ISIS. WHERE'S AUSTIN TICE? Speaking of Syria, a BBC investigation out today confirms that AUSTIN TICE, the American freelance journalist who disappeared in Syria over a decade ago, was held by the now-ousted regime of former Syrian dictator BASHAR ASSAD. Documents reviewed by the BBC show that despite the Assad regime's claims that Tice was never in its custody, he was indeed captured by a pro-Assad paramilitary group and held in a prison in Damascus. The documents provide no additional insights into Tice's current whereabouts, and his location after February 2013 is not listed in the files. IT'S MONDAY: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily! This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at rgramer@ and ebazail@ and follow Robbie and Eric on X @RobbieGramer and @ebazaileimil. While you're at it, follow the rest of POLITICO's global security team on X and Bluesky at: @dave_brown24, @HeidiVogt, @jessicameyers, @RosiePerper, @ @PhelimKine, @ak_mack, @felschwartz, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary, @reporterjoe, @JackDetsch, @samuelskove, @magmill95, @johnnysaks130 and @delizanickel On the Hill FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY — HFAC'S STATE RESTRUCTURE PLANS: Republican staff on the House Foreign Affairs Committee briefed staff today on how the process for restructuring the State Department will work legislatively. The State Department's organizational chart, once Congress gets involved, will look different from the one Secretary of State MARCO RUBIO released last month. For one, State will create a chief financial officer role, per a mockup of the potential organizational chart viewed by NatSec Daily. That CFO will oversee a new assistant secretary for Special Diplomatic Missions, who will oversee all special envoys. State will eliminate all existing special envoys, except for the State Department special envoy to Combat Antisemitism, a special envoy for the Abraham Accords and the special envoy for Hostage Affairs. A special envoy for Holocaust Affairs will also be created. A congressional staffer, granted anonymity to speak publicly about the legislative work in the restructuring, explained that the goal of these efforts is for Congress to take back power over foreign policy. But there are already worries that Congress' oversight may be limited, as the bill will eliminate most of the recurring reports State has to send Congress. A spokesperson for Chair BRIAN MAST (R-Fla.) did not respond to a request for comment. Personnel issues aren't being touched in this reauthorization effort, per the staffer, and Congress is expected to take up those issues in a separate bill later this year. Broadsides WAR CRIMES ACCUSATION: A former senior Biden official who was the face of the administration's routine defense of its Israel policy said Israel was committing war crimes. MATTHEW MILLER, who served as State Department spokesperson from 2023 through the end of the Biden administration, told Sky News in a new interview released today: 'I don't think it's a genocide, but I think it is without a doubt true that Israel has committed war crimes.' When asked why he never vocalized this during his time in the administration, he said: 'When you're at the podium, you're not expressing your personal opinion. You're expressing the conclusions of the United States government. The United States government had not concluded that they committed war crimes, still have not concluded.' Miller is one of the highest-profile former Biden administration officials to publicly rebuke Israel for its conduct of the war in Gaza since leaving office. Transitions — FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY: TIM MEISBURGER is leaving the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance at the diminished U.S. Agency for International Development for a role at the Peace Corps, a U.S. official and a person familiar with the issue told our own Nahal Toosi and Daniel Lippman. Nahal and Daniel also obtained a farewell note written by Meisburger, a political appointee, who told bureau staffers he knew his time 'has been a time of turmoil,' alluding to the Trump administration's swift dismantling of USAID. Meisburger added that he admired the USAID staff. 'Your quiet competence and professionalism in the midst of a hurricane not of your making is astonishing, but perhaps should not be, given your calling,' he wrote. The Peace Corps, too, is a target of the administration's plans to downsize government. Meisburger did not respond to a request for comment, but the Peace Corps media office said he would serve as a senior adviser in the office of the director. It also noted that Meisburger served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Lesotho from 1988-1990. — PHILIP BEDNARCZYK is now director of the German Marshall Fund's Warsaw office. He previously was an adviser for Europe and Eurasia for the House Foreign Affairs Committee. — MEGAN APPER is joining the Council on Foreign Relations as director of media relations and communications strategy. Apper most recently was senior spokesperson for international affairs at the Treasury Department. — The Middle East Institute is adding NATAN SACHS as a senior fellow. Sachs previously served as director of the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. — ANNA NEWBY is now director of global policy communications at Micron. She previously was director of communications at the National Nuclear Security Administration. What to Read — Elisabeth Braw, POLITICO: Gig model of Russian subversion is a nightmare for Western intelligence services — Justyna Gudzowska and Laura Ferris, Foreign Affairs: The War on Trees: How Illegal Logging Funds Cartels, Terrorists, and Rogue Regimes — Gideon Rachman, Financial Times: Trump always chickens out on foreign policy too Tomorrow Today — Atlantic Council's Europe Center, 9 a.m.: 'Securing Europe — With or Without the United States?' as part of Warsaw Week 2025: Retooling the Transatlantic Alliance for an Era of Uncertainty.' — Center for a New American Security, 9 a.m.: Virtual 2025 National Security Conference with the theme 'America's Edge.' — Hudson Institute, 12:30 p.m.: A book discussion on 'Unbroken: One Uyghur's Fight for Freedom.' — Brookings Institution, 2 p.m.: The United States, China, and the War in Ukraine — Center for Strategic and International Studies, 4:30 p.m.: South Korea's New President Thanks to our editors, Rosie Perper and Katherine Long, who should also face congressional sanctions.

Graham, Blumenthal meet with Zelensky in Ukraine

Yahoo

3 days ago

Business
Yahoo

Graham, Blumenthal meet with Zelensky in Ukraine

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday after a wave of Kremlin attacks last weekend. The three leaders discussed a legislative initiative to strengthen U.S. sanctions against Russia and ongoing peace negotiations according to Zelensky's office. 'Ukraine's fight is our fight. Our national security is at stake because [Russian President] Vladimir Putin will keep going and his aggression will continue not just against Ukraine but against our allies and we will be obligated by our treaty to put troops on the ground,' Blumenthal said in a Friday video post on the social media platform X. 'Now is the time to stop Putin, now is the time to support Ukraine and I'm inspired by the continuing bravery and strength of the Ukrainian people,' he added. In response to the over three-years long war, Graham has pushed ahead a bill in the upper chamber seeking to increase sanctions on Russia in an effort to tame their aggression in Eastern Europe. Despite 82 co-sponsors for Graham's bill, lawmakers said they will wait to put the bill on the floor until President Trump approves of harsher measures. The president has signaled that he is nearing his edge with Putin, who ordered strikes in Kyiv over the weekend. 'He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I'm not just talking about soldiers. Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever,' Trump said in a Truth Social post. 'I've always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that's proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!' The president said Putin had 'gone absolutely crazy' while slamming Zelensky for his rhetoric on the war. Still, Trump told reporters that he was only 'considering' sanctions. Ceasefire talks are slated to take place in Istanbul early next week, but Zelensky says Putin has shown no real desire for the bloodshed to end. 'The President noted that Ukraine remains ready for constructive negotiations, but the Russian side cannot even define the agenda of the meeting planned for June 2 in Istanbul,' Zelensky's office wrote in a Friday release. 'Russia shows a desire for peace only in statements, while instead preparing for new offensive operations,' it continued. To date, more than 500,000 soldiers have been injured or killed in the Russia-Ukraine war. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

The Hill

3 days ago

Politics
The Hill

Graham, Blumenthal meet with Zelensky in Ukraine

To end the war in Ukraine, make Beijing's bankrolling of Russia's war machine hurt

New York Post

19-05-2025

Business
New York Post

To end the war in Ukraine, make Beijing's bankrolling of Russia's war machine hurt

If President Donald Trump wants lasting peace in Ukraine, he needs to unleash secondary sanctions on the countries keeping Vladimir Putin's bloody war going. Trump left Monday's call with Putin in an optimistic mood, posting that the chat 'went very well' and that 'Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War.' Thing is, Putin's readout of the call still signaled that he'll accept nothing less than domination of Ukraine: That's what he means when he declares the overriding need 'to eliminate the root causes of this crisis.' Advertisement In Vlad's mind, the 'root cause' of the war is Ukraine's sovereignty, so 'Russia is ready to work with Kyiv' toward peace only via Kyiv's surrender. Trump's going to need to a big stick to get Putin to meaningfully bend. Russia illegally invaded under the guise of 'de-Nazifying' the country and saving Russian-speaking Ukrainians from 'oppression' — grievances impossible to address because they're baseless. Advertisement In all negotiations so far, Putin has insisted on conditions that would leave Kyiv neutered and vulnerable: demilitarization, NATO membership off the table, letting Russia keep all the territory it's occupying and then some. Vlad won't back off those demands unless he has no other option. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has a solution primed and ready: A bill he introduced with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to impose a crippling a 500% tariff on imported goods from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium etc. That would slam China, which has kept Putin's war machine chugging with those energy purchases and exporting hundreds of billions in products to Moscow, staving off catastrophic inflation and shortages. Advertisement Without that lifeline, Russia's already limping economy would go kaput. President Xi Jinping sees Putin as an ally in his war on the West, but will only suffer so much economic pain on behalf of Moscow. A call from him could force Vlad to face reality at the negotiating table. Graham has said that the secondary sanctions bill has enough bipartisan support to pass 'if Russia does not embrace an honorable, just and enduring peace.' Advertisement Putin is making it ever more clear he has no intention to do so. Trump should give the go-ahead to start making China's bankrolling of Moscow's bloodlust hurt. The road to peace in Ukraine goes through Beijing.

Schatz, Klobuchar, Murray in competition to succeed Durbin

Yahoo

24-04-2025

Politics
Yahoo

Schatz, Klobuchar, Murray in competition to succeed Durbin

Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) are viewed by Senate insiders as the three lawmakers competing to succeed retiring Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.) as Senate Democratic whip, the No. 2-ranking member the Senate Democratic leadership. Schatz, the chief deputy whip, appears to be a strong frontrunner for the job as he's already performing some of the whip's duties in helping to manage the floor, according to Democratic sources. But the 52-year-old Schatz could face stiff composition from Klobuchar, 64, if she decides to aim to become the next Senate Democratic leader instead of running again for president in 2028. He could face another formidable opponent in Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.), 74, who previously held the No. 3-ranking job in the Senate Democratic caucus. Senate Democratic sources whisper that Klobuchar is less popular than Schatz among colleagues, but they acknowledge she's a 'talented' leader and has an edge over her colleague from Hawaii when it comes to speaking at press conferences and putting together bipartisan legislation. 'Schatz, Klobuchar and Murray are the ones that are angling for whip,' said one person close to the Senate Democratic conference. 'Schatz is really well liked and has a group of five or six young guns, Murphy, Booker, Heinrich and others … who are trying to get more say and get younger [leadership] in the caucus,' the source said, referring to Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.). 'Schatz has got the money and the youth behind him,' the source added. Senate sources say any leadership race is tough to predict because it often comes down to the interpersonal relationships within the caucus and campaigning is done privately senator to senator. 'You never can tell with leadership elections because it's all done behind closed doors and the vote itself is private, but as far as I can tell, Sen. Schatz seems to be in a pretty good position if he wants to take the leap,' said Jim Manley, who served as a senior aide to former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and former Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.). 'He's good on the issues. He's articulate. He thinks well on his feet. He's good interviews. A good solid, substantive senator,' Manley said of Schatz. 'Anyone thinking about jumping in is going to be in a good position. Sen. Durbin has years of experience, which is going to be tough to replicate, but those that are being talked about should handle themselves quite well,' he said. Schatz would be helped in whip's race by his chief of staff, Reema Dodin, who previously served in President Biden's office of legislative affairs, and before that as deputy chief of staff and floor director for Durbin. A Senate Democratic aide told The Hill that Schatz has been calling colleagues about replacing Durbin following his announcement Wednesday that he would not run for re-election next year. The aide said Democratic senators view Schatz 'as very engaged, very savvy with social media' and a good fit for the spot given his role as chief deputy whip. Klobuchar, however, outranks Schatz in the Democratic leadership. She currently holds the No. 3 position as chair of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee after succeeding Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), who retired at the end of 2024. Murray right now is focused on this year's government funding fights with Republicans but she's not ruling out a future leadership run. One Democratic aide described Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), the fourth-ranking member of the Senate Democratic leadership, as having a lot of 'strength' within the Democratic caucus. But Booker is a good friend of Schatz's and therefore viewed as unlikely to challenge the Hawaii Democrat. That leaves Klobuchar as Schatz's toughest likely competitor. Some Democrats view Klobuchar as a possible successor to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) as Democratic leader. Klobuchar has kept her plans close to the vest but one longtime Democratic aide said the Minnesota senator has thought carefully about her potential path to becoming the next leader. But that path would get more complicated if Schatz is elected to the whip's position after the 2026 election. Schumer's fifth Senate term doesn't end until 2028, and the 74-year-old leader hasn't given any indication he would consider retirement. Klobuchar has several big advantages heading into any Senate leadership race. She is the previous chair of the powerful Senate Rules Committee and played a key role in passing the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, an important accomplishment of the 117th Congress. Congress passed the law to ensure future electoral votes for president reflect the will of the people in each state and to improve the process for certifying the Electoral College vote. It was passed to prevent another Jan. 6-style attack on the Capitol. She now serves as the top Democrat on Senate Agriculture Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a top Democratic priority. And she is viewed by Democratic insiders as having more of a connection with voters than Schatz. They cite the surprising traction she gained with voters during her 2020 presidential campaign, which she memorably launched in the middle of a Minnesota snowstorm. Klobuchar showed her toughness and determination as a candidate right at the start of her campaign by speaking while bareheaded to a warmly-bundled-up crowd in Minneapolis as the snowdrifts collected. Her best showing came in the 2020 New Hampshire primary, where she won nearly 20 percent of the vote, finishing third behind Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Pete Buttigieg. Now, she has a tough decision to make. Should she challenge Schatz to become the next Democratic whip, which would put her in the poll position to someday succeed Schumer as Senate Democratic leader? Or should she make another run for the presidency against a crowded Democratic field that is likely to include political heavyweights such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Senate colleagues such as Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.). Rodell Mollineau, a Democratic strategist and former Senate leadership aide, said Klobuchar did well in the 2020 presidential race but it's hard to predict how she would fare against a different field in 2028. Heading into the 2020 Democratic primary, Klobuchar had carved out a lane for herself as the Midwestern pragmatist who knew how to get things done, he said. But she might have more competition in that lane if other Midwesterners such as Whitmer or Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, 60, jump into the race. 'She did better than anyone expected in 2020. But I think part of that is the circumstance of who you're running against,' Mollineau said. 'There was a lane for her. She was the pragmatic, Midwestern, get-stuff-done United States senator,' he added. 'It could certainly happen again but she' s not going to be the only person in' that lane. If Klobuchar decides to run for whip, that could be a tough race as well. Schatz has strong relationships with rising stars within the Democratic caucus and has already earned good grades from some Senate Democratic colleagues for helping to manage whip counts and letting vulnerable senators know when their votes are needed or not needed on critical amendments or nominees. He has a strong relationship with K Street as an approachable and 'nice' senator and is expected to be able to be a strong fundraiser for the Democratic leadership if he moves up the ladder. 'He's very popular with a lot of people,' a Democratic strategist said of Schatz. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Latest news with #D-Conn.

A massive sanctions threat hangs over Putin

Graham, Blumenthal meet with Zelensky in Ukraine

Graham, Blumenthal meet with Zelensky in Ukraine

To end the war in Ukraine, make Beijing's bankrolling of Russia's war machine hurt

Schatz, Klobuchar, Murray in competition to succeed Durbin

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