During their joint appearance on CNN's "State of the Union," Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and James Risch (R-ID) gave an update on bipartisan discussions regarding sanctions against Russia. Menendez is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, while Risch is the ranking member.
When asked by host Dana Bash how close a deal is on legislation for sanctions, Menendez predicted that they are "on the one-yard line," adding, "Hopefully, we will be able to conclude successfully."
"What there is no doubt is that there is an incredible bipartisan resolve for support of Ukraine and an incredibly strong bipartisan resolve to have severe consequences for Russia if it invades Ukraine, and, in some cases, for what it has already done," Menendez stressed.
It's worth stressing that the senator mentioned an "if" there. The source of disagreement where it exists is the timing of the sanctions, which the Biden administration has been hesitant about.
Risch agreed with Menendez on the progress being made with discussions, but did appear to acknowledge where there is disagreement. "That's a work in progress," he said when asked by Bash about deciding on the timing of such sanctions.
Menendez also previewed what to expect on Russian sanctions.
"What we are devising, building upon the legislation that both Senator Risch wrote independently and I wrote, which I call the mother of all sanctions, it's to include a variety of elements, massive sanctions against the most significant Russian banks, crippling to their economy, meaningful in terms of consequences to the average Russian in their accounts and pensions, more lethal assistance to Ukraine, the ability to deal with Russia's sovereign debt, to look at sectoral elements of Russia's economy, which is largely an extracting economy on energy, to sanction its sovereign debt," he offered. "These are sanctions beyond any that we have ever levied before."
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Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez on bipartisan negotiations on economic sanctions on Russia: "There is an incredible bipartisan resolve for support of Ukraine and an incredibly strong bipartisan resolve to have severe consequences for Russia if it invades Ukraine." #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/JJlOmRz2aQ
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) January 30, 2022
The discussions are occurring as a potential invasion of Ukraine looms ever closer, though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that the White House needs to tone down such rhetoric and is causing "a panic." In response, the White House has accused Zelensky of "downplaying risk of invasion."
President Zelensky has called for sanctions against Russia, though, and during a Friday press conference criticized Western reaction.
When pressed by Bash about such conflicting assessments between the United States and Ukraine, Menendez offered that Zelensky is concerned about his country's economic stability, while Risch shared there has been agreement that Putin hasn't made a decision on whether to invade, and that "if Putin sees weakness, if he sees bumbling, if he sees ineptitude, if he sees indecision, that he will take advantage of that."
For all of the bipartisan efforts communicated in the joint interview, the reality of such agreement has been complicated by many Democrats and the Biden administration, especially.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline was referenced during the interview, with Bash pointing out to Risch that the Biden administration is "reluctant to do anything to block that." The senator mentioned that has been "a continuing disagreement, since the administration took office."
Earlier this month, Democrats filibustered legislation from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) that would have imposed sanctions on the pipeline. It failed with a vote of 55-44.
Part of the disagreement from the White House on the pipeline appears to be that it wants to be the one in control of dictating the timeline and whether there will be sanctions or merely threats of it.
The interview concluded with Menendez emphasizing that they "are committed, jointly, in a bipartisan way, to defend Ukraine and to send Putin a message," and that such a message will "be bluntly and consequential."
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