Ukrainian delegation to brief senators amid Russia sanctions push

A Ukrainian delegation is set to brief U.S. senators Wednesday as lawmakers weigh a sweeping sanctions bill targeting Russia and its biggest energy customers, China and India.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who told POLITICO he organized the meeting with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), said all 100 senators were invited to attend the closed-door session.

“It’s a pivotal moment in Ukraine — and crunch time for the Senate on this bill,” said Blumenthal, noting that the legislation now has 82 co-sponsors, evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.

The visiting delegation, he told POLITICO, includes Andriy Yermak, a top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Serhii Boyev, is traveling with Yermack.

The sanctions package from Blumenthal and Graham is designed to increase pressure on Russia’s wartime economy by targeting countries that buy oil and gas — a move Blumenthal said could be a “game changer.”

He also pointed to recent long-range drone attacks deep inside Russia — dubbed “Operation Spiderweb” — as evidence of Ukraine’s agility and resolve. Those strikes, he said, counter “a false narrative that Ukraine is losing the war,” and could shift momentum in Washington in favor of increasing aid for Ukraine.“They can strike air bases 4,000 miles from Ukraine; They can hit anywhere,” Blumenthal said. “Just in the skill and audacity of these attacks, it will rank with the United States raid on Osama bin Laden and the Israeli pager operation as one of the great military achievements in recent years.”

Blumenthal said the White House remains hesitant to support the sanctions bill, but the battlefield momentum could sway President Donald Trump and skeptical lawmakers.

“Events will move the White House — and maybe some of the president’s friends here,” he said, referring to Graham. “Congress can … move ahead. [Trump] doesn’t have to support it.”