Senate majority leader says Republicans ready to move on Russia sanctions bill when Trump gives green light

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Republicans will vote on a Russia sanctions bill as soon as President Donald Trump green-lights the legislation.

A bipartisan U.S. sanctions bill co-sponsored by Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., would target the Russian economy and countries that help prop up Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war machine by buying cheap oil and gas.

"We ought to do whatever we can to help Ukraine succeed and to put pressure on Russia to come to the table," Thune said Wednesday in a wide-ranging interview on "Special Report."

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during the plenary session of the 28th Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum SPIEF 2025 on June 20, 2025 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. ((Photo by Contributor/Getty Images))

The bill has 85 co-sponsors in the Senate but has been put on hold after Trump announced Monday at the White House that he would sell weapons to NATO countries for distribution to Ukraine. 

Trump also threatened to enact 100% secondary tariffs on countries that trade with Russia if a deal isn’t made within 50 days.

"The president, I think, has decided to move sort of unilaterally on that front, both on sanctions and with respect to weapons delivery to Ukraine. So, I think he understands what it's going to take to get the Russians to the table," Thune explained. "We want to work with him and be partners on that."

TRUMP'S BOLD PIVOT ON UKRAINE SENDS MAJOR SIGNAL

Ukrainian military members carry the coffin of Vasyl Ratushnyi, a Ukrainian serviceman who served as a drone operator in "Madyar's Birds" unit and who was killed fighting Russian troops at the front, during his funeral ceremony outside Saint Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv on March 5, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. ((Photo by ROMAN PILIPEY/AFP via Getty Images))

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told the Russian state-owned news agency TASS that ultimatums and demands to Moscow are unacceptable.

"It is necessary to focus on political and diplomatic work. The president of the Russian Federation has repeatedly said that we are ready to negotiate and that the diplomatic path is the one we prefer," Ryabkov said. 

He added that the war in Ukraine would continue if his country’s war goals weren’t addressed through diplomacy. Moscow has maintained its maximalist demands during two rounds of negotiations in Istanbul, which Ukrainian officials say essentially call for Kyiv’s capitulation.

Russian and Ukrainian delegations attend talks at the Dolmabache palace, in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP)

Trump has grown frustrated with Putin, who has refused to agree to a 30-day unconditional ceasefire proposed by the United States and its European allies earlier this year.

NATO JETS SCRAMBLED AMID RUSSIA'S LARGEST DRONE ATTACK ON UKRAINE

His two-week deadlines for Russia to advance peace talks with Ukraine have repeatedly expired without significant progress or consequences.

Ukraine’s Air Force said Tuesday that Russia launched more than 400 drones at multiple Ukrainian cities, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih. 

"I think what the president wants in all these circumstances — he starts with — from a proposition that he wants peace in these areas of conflict around the world. But at some point, there's got to be leverage on Russia," Thune told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier. 

"And right now, they are continuing to fire into areas where they are killing innocent civilians."

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