Republican senators are ratcheting up their demands for President Donald Trump to put new sanctions on Russia, as the White House has\u00a0signaled an openness\u00a0toward a second phase of sanctions against Moscow.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Russia is playing, they\u2019re really playing us like a piano right now,\u201d North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s gotten everything he wanted; he\u2019s gotten access to the president, he\u2019s getting a red carpet reception, three weeks later he\u2019s getting a red carpet reception from Xi Jinping and hanging out with Kim Jong Un,\u201d Tillis said of Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding that Putin\u2019s goal is to \u201cstring us along.\u201d<\/p>\n
The comments from Tillis, the co-chair the Senate NATO Observer Group, come after NATO fighter jets\u00a0shot down multiple Russian drones\u00a0that violated Polish airspace during an attack on neighboring Ukraine Wednesday. While a previous sanctions push from South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham had seemingly stalled amid a lack of interest from the White House, a growing chorus of party voices are pushing for the president to take a strong stance amid Russia\u2019s ongoing war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, at some point we need to recognize that this guy is plotting to overthrow Western democracy. And I know the way you do that is to undermine the United States of America, then going back to Moscow and ordering air assaults that are the most extensive since the war began,\u201d Tillis said. \u201cThat is not somebody who is wanting peace. He wants to string us along and kill and rape and murder more Ukrainians and it\u2019s got to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senate Republican leadership, the senator argued, should allow the chamber to vote on Graham\u2019s\u00a0sanctions package, which was written with Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal and has broad, bipartisan support. It would allow the president to levy up to a 500% tariff on imports from countries that purchase Russian uranium, gas and oil, and have not contributed to Ukraine\u2019s war effort.<\/p>\n
Trump on Wednesday\u00a0delivered a vague missive on social media following the incursion into Poland, writing on Truth Social: \u201cWhat\u2019s with Russia violating Poland\u2019s airspace with drones? Here we go!\u201d<\/p>\n
Afterward, Graham addressed Trump directly in a\u00a0post on X, writing that he agreed with the president\u2019s post and saying: \u201cMr. President, Congress is with you. We stand ready to pass legislation authorizing 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
A White House official later told CNN that \u201cthe White House is working with Congress to ensure introduced bills advance the president\u2019s foreign policy objectives and authorities. The Constitution vests the president with the authority to conduct diplomacy with foreign nations. Any sanction package must provide complete flexibility for the president to continue to pursue his desired foreign policy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Previously, Senate Majority Leader John Thune had said leadership was waiting for the green light from the White House, as the administration engaged Russia diplomatically.<\/p>\n
Asked whether the overnight strikes could propel him to vote on the bill without first getting the nod from the White House he has repeatedly said he needs, Thune said that \u201cit\u2019s intensified interest in moving on the sanctions bill.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that there were some technical issues that they were working with the White House to resolve. My team was, Lindsey\u2019s folks were involved in all these conversations,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of, I would say, discussion now around we need to move so we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pressed directly on whether he would put the package on the floor, Thune responded: \u201cWe\u2019ll see. I need to have a couple conversations before that happens. But our members are very interested, and you know, that was a provocative act, which clearly is, you know, an attempt to test the US and our NATO allies.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of those members is North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer, who said he\u2019d \u201clove to see [the Russia sanctions package] come up next week, but I would love to have seen it come up last month.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe message that I\u2019m receiving from Russia is they\u2019re not interested. And I think it\u2019s time for us to exercise all of our leverage,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The top Republicans on the House and Senate Armed Services Committees have similarly urged the administration to take a firmer line on Russian sanctions. \u201cI got a feeling that he\u2019s about had it with Vladimir Putin\u2019s games, and he\u2019s about ready to do something,\u201d Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House panel, said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Trump, Sen. Joni Ernst said, \u201cwants to make sure that he is giving every opportunity for peace to get this war resolved,\u201d but, she warned, \u201cPutin is playing him right now, and I think the president understands that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to make sure that we are utilizing the tools in our toolbox to help President Trump negotiate peace on behalf of Ukraine. So let\u2019s move forward with the sanctions bill,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n
But a number of lawmakers defended the president\u2019s hesitancy to move on tougher sanctions.<\/p>\n
Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford argued the US needs to be certain Europe will back US policy on the matter.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Trump\u2019s trying to use the tariffs right now to be able to provide leverage. The next piece on that, if that doesn\u2019t work, is the sanctions piece that obviously has a dramatic effect on our economy and other nations\u2019 economies,\u201d he said. \u201cSo you got to be wise to be able to do that. I think it\u2019s wise to be able to work as many options as you can before we get to that point.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lankford acknowledged, however, that American officials need to ensure they are pushing back against Russian aggression.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think this is accidental, that [Putin\u2019s] probing NATO at this point to be able to figure out just how far that he can go. We need to continue to be able to push back against his aggression on this, because he does not want to end the war. He wants the war,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sen. John Curtis, meanwhile, said president is in a tough spot as a negotiator, arguing that \u201cif this was easy, President Biden would have done it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s difficult, and I\u2019m don\u2019t want to outguess the strategy he\u2019s doing, only to acknowledge we all want him to be successful,\u201d the Utah Republican said.<\/p>\n
The president, Tillis said, is not \u201cbeing naive\u201d in his negotiations with the Kremlin but \u201cgenuinely is trying to prevent a confrontation that puts American men and women at risk.\u201d Still, he said, \u201cenough is enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe president is a is a shrewd negotiator, but on his face, it looks like we\u2019re losing this negotiation,\u201d the Republican said.<\/p>\n
CNN\u2019s Casey Riddle and Kit Maher contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at\u00a0CNN.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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