Pence calls for secondary sanctions on Russia

Former Vice President Mike Pence urged the Senate on Thursday to pass a major sanctions bill against Russia, arguing that hefty tariffs, along with continued military aid to Ukraine, provide the best “pathway” to reaching peace in Eastern Europe.

“He’s fully capable of doing the diplomatic thing and being friendly and shaking hands and at the same time saying, ‘Here’s the economic consequences that are going to happen unless you step forward,’” Pence said of President Trump during an appearance on NewsNation’s “The Hill.”

“If we pass those secondary sanctions, Vladimir Putin will understand that we could literally break their economy, and by providing continued military support for Ukraine, that combination of efforts, I think, is the best pathway to peace,” the former vice president told host Blake Burman. 

The sanctions bill, which has been pushed by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), would impose 500 percent tariffs on countries purchasing Russian oil and gas. The measure has more than 85 co-sponsors in the upper chamber, but the Senate left for recess before advancing the bill, deferring to Trump to decide on sanctions. 

“We propose in our bill 500 percent. If it’s 250 percent, I could live with it. Even if it’s 100 percent, possibly. But you ought to impose bone-crushing sanctions that will stop them from fueling Russia’s war machine,” Blumenthal said earlier this month.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said Monday that Trump should be “commended” for his efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war and signaled the Senate is “ready” to provide the president “any economic leverage needed to keep Russia at the table to negotiate a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.” 

Trump has pushed to end the three-and-a-half-year war, meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, and meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, along with seven European leaders, at the White House on Monday.

Since then, Russian officials have expressed doubt about the possibilities of a speedy peace deal with Ukraine, including agreeing on security guarantees for Kyiv and scheduling a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, for which the president has advocated for some time. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov questioned Zelensky’s legitimacy on Thursday and stated the security guarantees discussed in ongoing talks are “hopeless.”

Lavrov claimed Putin is ready to meet with the Ukrainian president with the “understanding that all issues that require consideration at the highest level will be well worked out.” 

Trump said Thursday that “interesting times [are] ahead” and slammed his predecessor, former President Biden, over his administration’s policy of barring Ukraine from using U.S. long-range weapons to strike deep inside Russia. 

“It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invaders country. It’s like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense, but is not allowed to play offense. There is no chance of winning! It is like that with Ukraine and Russia,” the president wrote on Truth Social. 

Pence, in the interview with NewsNation, argued that one of the reasons why Putin did not invade Ukraine during Trump’s first White House term is that the Trump-Pence administration “had the credible threat of the use of force.”

“He saw us take action, unleashing our military to take down the ISIS caliphate,” Pence said Thursday. “Send cruise missiles into Syria to take down Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard leader.”