Three Democratic senators on Thursday said they were launching an investigation into the Trump administration’s more than five-month pause on new sanctions against Russia related to its war in Ukraine.
“Instead of taking clearly available steps to pressure the aggressors, President Trump is doing nothing and we will be investigating this missed opportunity to push for an end to this war,” Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Chris Coons (Del.), said in a joint statement.
Since Trump began his second term in January, the United States has not issued any new sanctions against Russia stemming from its invasion of Ukraine — in some cases even easing such restrictions.
Under President Biden, Washington imposed more than 6,200 sanctions against entities linked to Moscow targeting companies, trade, and financial transactions that fuel its war machine — over 170 new sanctions a month, on average, according to an analysis from The New York Times.
The lack of new sanctions, the lawmakers write, is only allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to continue his attack on Ukraine, even as Trump has repeatedly stated he will quickly bring an end to the war.
“Americans should be asking why a president who says he wants to end a major war is instead letting the aggressor run rampant,” they wrote.
“On top of halting key assistance to Ukraine, President Trump has blocked regular updates to our sanctions and export controls for five months and counting — enabling a growing wave of evaders in China and around the world to continue supplying Russia’s war machine.”
The failure to use such existing tools “emboldens Putin to keep fighting,” they add.
The investigation comes as the Pentagon last month ordered a pause on some air defense interceptors and precision-guided munitions to Ukraine, a revelation that came to light this week.
Top Democrats including Shaheen, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, were quick to blast the reports of a weapons halt.
House Armed Services Committee ranking member Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), admonished the administration for leaving Congress out of the loop and potentially jeopardizing U.S. national security.
“In this context, cutting off a crucial avenue of support for Ukraine in a critical moment of their national survival is strategically and morally wrong,” he said in a statement.
“This decision clearly appears to be part of an effort to reward Putin.”
Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, on Wednesday said the halt in weapons transfers was part of a larger review of the U.S. military’s munitions stockpiles.
“We can’t give weapons to everybody all around the world,” Parnell told reporters. “We have to look out for America and defending our homeland and our troops around the world.”
But Shaheen, Warren and Coons argue that Trump is “letting the aggressor run rampant,” referring to Putin.
They call on the administration to enforce existing sanctions against Moscow, including by restarting routine designations of entities currently supporting Russia’s defense industry.
They also called on the U.S. to join its European partners in tightening sanctions to bring the Kremlin to the negotiating table.
“The only way to secure a just and lasting peace is to demonstrate resolve alongside our G7 partners and show Putin that the costs will only increase so long as he continues his brutal assault on innocent Ukrainians,” they state.
