Senators are pushing an effort to enact a new round of crippling sanctions on Russia to pressure the Kremlin to make concessions and meaningfully engage in peace talks to bring an end to the war in Ukraine as talks led by the White House have yielded little progress and fighting continues to escalate. Republicans in the Senate are pressing the White House to sign off on a robust sanctions package that would target Russia’s ability to financially support its war effort as Russian President Vladimir Putin has showed no willingness to back off his war aims in Ukraine despite repeated pushes from the administration to do so. Sens.

Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., are that would put steep sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil and gas, a move that would lawmakers say would severely impact Moscow’s ability to finance its invasion of Ukraine by targeting its most valuable output. The legislation would place a 500% tariff on any country that purchases Russian energy products like oil, gas and uranium. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters there is a high level of interest in the bill and the Senate might take it up later this month.

“There's a high level of interest here in the Senate, on both sides of the aisle and moving on it, and it's very well could be something that we would take up in this work period," Thune said. "Obviously we're working with the White House to try and ensure that what we do and when we do it works well with the negotiations that they've got underway." House Speaker Mike Johnson has also backed the idea of additional sanctions on Russia, providing another boost to the effort, though he didn’t say whether the bill would go up for a vote if it cleared the Senate.

“There’s many members of Congress that want us to sanction Russia as strongly as we can,” Johnson told reporters on Monday. “And I’m an advocate of that.” But lawmakers are working with the White House, which has been hesitant to move to more sanctions over concerns it could derail sensitive peace talks that have not made much notable progress despite frequent pressure from President Donald Trump, who has also been increasingly vocal about frustrations about a European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who met with Graham on Monday, backed the Senate plan to put new sanctions on Russia, which comes as the EU is preparing its 18th package of its own penalties. “Pressure works, as the Kremlin understands nothing else,” von der Leyen said in a statement.

“These steps, taken together with U.S. measures, would sharply increase the joint impact of our sanctions.” But the question remains as to whether it will be enough to get Putin to back off his ambition of taking over Ukraine. He has dragged the war on for years and only been willing to in exchange for significant relief from sanctions or guarantees that are nonstarters for Ukraine. “He's willing to subject his country to a lot of economic and other pain because the capture of Ukraine and bringing it back into the Russian fold is top priority for him, in many ways, is existential,” said Ian Kelly, a former State Department diplomat and ambassador in residence at Northwestern.

“I just don't think that will be enough to make him stop. However, it would definitely be a blow to him, and it would also expose how isolated he really is.” Russia has not backed down from demands like a prohibition on Ukraine joining the NATO military alliance, keeping territory it has seized at the conclusion of the war and preventing Western allies from giving Ukraine military aid in the future, all of which are unacceptable terms for Kyiv and its European allies. Putin has also been undeterred by multiple rounds of sanctions from the U.S. and other allies throughout the war that have been aimed at crippling the Russian economy.

The sanctions also come at a time of renewed momentum for Ukraine after it carried out a surprise drone attack that Kyiv said damaged or destroyed about a third of Russia’s strategic bomber fleet. It was another significant blow to Russia and its credibility as a world military power and demonstrated Ukraine’s ability to strike deep within Russian territory using minimal resources. Ukraine also with underwater explosions, destroying the bridge.

“People were talking about how kind of set in stone the Russian military is, and then you look what the Ukrainians are doing, the plucky Ukrainians are striking deep into Russian territory and blowing up Russian bridges,” Kelly said. “Definitely, the momentum and the public support has changed.”