A group of American Democratic Party senators has put together a new slate of potential economic sanctions against Russia, even as legislators are set to vote on a separate bill concerning the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
The proposed legislation was drafted by a group led by Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, and would impose broad sanctions on top Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, in the event of an invasion of Ukraine. It would also target companies in Russia that offer messaging systems such as SWIFT, which banks use to securely exchange information.
The bill “makes it absolutely clear that the US Senate will not stand idly by as the Kremlin threatens a re-invasion of Ukraine,” Menendez said to the Post. “Putin need not collapse his entire economy nor does he need to sacrifice the lives of his own people in a futile attempt to rewrite the map of Europe,” the senator went on.
National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne told the Post that the proposed legislation has the support of the White House, which believes that a separate bill relating to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, championed by Republic Senator Ted Cruz, will “not counter further Russian aggression or protect Ukraine.”