U.S. Senate unable to promise Zelensky swift passage of sanctions against Russia

Republican Senator James Lankford was unable to guarantee Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the U.S. Congress would approve new sanctions against Russia in the near future.

This was reported by Politico, citing Lankford himself, who met with Zelensky in Kyiv.

According to the outlet, the meeting lasted about 20 minutes. In addition to Lankford, it was attended by Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, a strong supporter of Ukraine.

During the talks, Zelensky urged Washington to increase economic pressure on Moscow as quickly as possible. However, Lankford explained that he has no authority to set the schedule for the bill’s consideration in the House of Representatives.

“The best I could tell him is that the House plans to take this up in September. But, of course, I don’t control the timeline of that process,” the lawmaker said.

According to Lankford, Zelensky links additional economic pressure on Russia to the possibility of limiting the funds it uses to purchase weapons.

The Ukrainian president also once again asked the American representatives to provide additional interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems, or to allow Ukraine to produce them domestically under license. Lankford said he was unable to give a concrete answer on this.

In early August, the U.S. Senate approved a package of anti-Russian sanctions. The document must now be passed by the House of Representatives.