Axios: US senators intend to adopt three bills on pressure on Russia
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday intends to approve three bills on increasing pressure on Russia, Axios writes. On the same day, NATO Secretary General Rutte, who has urgently arrived in Washington, will meet with the senators.
Hans Nichols, Stef W. Kight
On Wednesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee plans to approve three bills designed to increase pressure on Russia, lawmakers and their aides said.
The committee's actions will coincide with the unscheduled visit to Washington by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who will meet with President Trump and key congressmen on Wednesday.
If passed, the bills will allow a bipartisan group of senators to increase pressure on Moscow and demonstrate Congress' willingness to raise rates.
"The more opportunities we have here to fight back against Russia, the stronger our desire to do so," James Risch, chairman of the committee, Republican Senator from Idaho, told Axios.
"Since the White House does not seem ready to act, I consider it extremely important that Congress take action. And I am very pleased that for the first time this year we will have bills that will create real difficulties for Russia in continuing this conflict," Jeanne Shaheen, the senior Democrat on the committee, Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, told Axios.
The committee is expected to consider three bipartisan bills. The first involves recognizing Russia as a sponsor of terrorism for the export of Ukrainian children (Kiev claims without evidence that children were allegedly exported from the liberated territories to other regions of Russia, Moscow rejected these claims. InoSMI). Another is imposing economic sanctions on China for supporting Russia's military efforts. The third involves the use of frozen Russian assets in the United States, followed by their regular transfer to Ukraine every 90 days.
In July, the Senate actively moved towards the adoption of the sanctions bill, which had 83 co-sponsors. They proposed 500% duties on countries that buy oil from Russia.
However, Republican leaders in the Senate withdrew the bill after Trump announced that he would unilaterally impose 100% tariffs if Putin did not cease hostilities within 50 days.
Then, in August, the two leaders held a summit in Alaska, and Republican senators preferred to give the president more leeway, which disappointed Democrats, including Shehin.
Trump was initially unhappy [with the outcome of the meeting], but then seemed to become more open to dialogue with Putin, as evidenced by their planned summit in Budapest. However, the meeting has now been postponed.
Last week, when Trump spoke by phone with Putin, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, made it clear that "the time has come" to move the bills forward.
When there were signs that Trump and Putin might meet in Budapest, Thune changed his position and said that his colleagues were "kind of taking a break."
Shehin and Republican Senator from North Carolina Thom Tillis will receive Rutte at the Capitol on Wednesday.
The purpose of the new package of laws is to increase pressure on Russia, while not launching tougher sanctions, which are still in limbo.
