Rubio says Congress is ready to pass the Sanctions Bill
On May 18th, Face the Nation aired an interview between Margaret Brennan and Secretary Rubio. Rubio had just spoken to his counterpart in Russia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as a debrief of Friday’s direct meeting between the Russians and Ukrainians. As an output of the debrief, Rubio said Russia was putting together their conditions for a ceasefire. Rubio also said that Ukraine, in turn, was drafting its conditions for a ceasefire, and the next steps were to compare how close they were to see if a peace agreement could still be found.
Ms. Brennan asked the Secretary if the Russians might be continuing the dialogue so they can stall for time. Rubio conceded that this is what they are testing with these discussions. If the requirements draft to be shared by Russia has ideas on them that are realistic, then progress is being made. Rubio also countered that if the requirements and ideas are the opposite, then they’ll have a different assessment.
Ms. Brennan then asked about Senator Graham’s vet-proof Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, as Senator Graham was sitting next to Secretary Rubio during the meeting with Lavrov. She specifically asked how quickly the Secretary wanted the option to sanction Russia.
The Secretary's response was illuminating.
“We've been communicating to the Russian side that this effort was- was being undertaken. That we anticipated that when all was said and done, it would have close to 80 cosponsors in the Senate, and I imagine a comparable percentage of support in the House, that that was an effort we couldn't stop and don't control, that ultimately, Congress and particularly the Republicans in the House and Senate, have tried to give the president space and time to negotiate something here. But we've- we've advised the Russians repeatedly now for almost two months that this was coming if no progress was made.”
President Trump plans to talk with Vladimir Putin on Monday. We hope the President will remind Russia what tools the United States has at its disposal to punish Russia if they don’t start to negotiate peace in good faith.
The Ukraine American PAC thanks the Secretary, Congress, and the American people for standing steadfast with Ukraine.