Senators in Ukraine press for tougher Russia sanctions over talks

By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. senators traveling in Ukraine and neighboring countries on Wednesday vowed to return to Washington and push for stiff new energy sanctions and other legislation to put pressure on Russia to end its aggression against Ukraine.

"I would hope that we would see a stronger effort and some real work when we get back to put pressure on (Russian President Vladimir) Putin," Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and three other Democratic senators said on a telephone call from Ukraine with reporters.

"We are united that countries buying Russian oil and gas - and they are China, India, Hungary, Brazil - should be given very strong incentives to stop doing so, and it's a way to really positively impact Ukraine's fight," Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said.

The senators spoke during the middle of a snowstorm in Odesa, where they met with coast guards, representatives of Ukraine's Navy, officials from U.S. companies and community members before heading to Moldova on Wednesday night.

Two days of peace talks in Geneva between Ukraine and Russia ended on Wednesday without a breakthrough, as Russia's all-out war on Ukraine neared its four-year anniversary. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was dissatisfied with the outcome, although U.S. President Donald Trump's administration reported "meaningful progress."

Ukraine has faced sustained pressure from Trump to agree to a deal that could mean painful concessions, as Russian forces pound its power grid and slowly advance on the battlefield.

Members of the U.S. Congress, including some of Trump's fellow Republicans as well as Democrats, have said Kyiv should not face too much pressure. Late last year, they passed legislation including hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance for Zelenskiy's government, which Trump signed into law.

SANCTIONS BILLS AND THE SHADOW FLEET

One of the main bills in Congress related to Ukraine that has not yet passed would impose sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil, gas and uranium.

The bill, introduced by Blumenthal and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, has the support of 85 of the 100 senators but has not come up for a vote. The Senate's Republican leaders have not brought the bill up for a vote because of resistance from Trump, who has kept decisions on sanctions at the White House, not Congress, since starting his second term in January 2025.

The Democratic senators traveling in Ukraine said they hoped the sanctions would pass soon and expressed optimism about another bill that would rein in the "shadow fleet" of ageing tankers that carry Russian crude to China, India and other countries.

"Nobody, literally nobody, believes that Russia is acting in good faith in the negotiations with our government and with the Ukrainians. And so pressure becomes the key, and the shadow fleet is one element of that pressure," said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

Graham was one of more than a dozen U.S. Republican and Democratic senators who participated in a meeting at the Munich Security Conference last weekend with Zelenskiy. Afterward, Graham said Trump had embraced his bill and it was time for a vote.

The senators on Wednesday's call said that they were prepared to push back if Trump negotiated an agreement that forced Ukraine to make too many concessions, and that they would not ratify any such pact.

"We will be looking for very strong security guarantees," Senator Chris Coons of Delaware said.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Edmund Klamann)