(WASHINGTON) – Two senior Democratic senators have demanded an explanation from the Trump administration over a 17 month pause in imposing new sanctions on entities helping Russia evade existing restrictions linked to its invasion of Ukraine.
Senators Elizabeth Warren, the senior Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, and Chris Coons wrote to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday.
The senators said the administration has paused regular, targeted sanctions against Russia for 17 months, despite peace talks proving unproductive.
The last major sanctions against Russia were imposed in October 2025, when the Treasury Department restricted the oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil. The senators said these were a one off measure and that Russia is easily evading them.
In response to a Reuters inquiry, a Treasury Department spokesperson pointed to the sanctions against Russian oil companies and said the administration would continue to act in the interests of US national security and a peaceful resolution to the war in Ukraine.
A State Department spokesperson said the department was not considering potential sanctions actions.
The senators’ letter quotes Bessent, who told Congress in February that the administration wanted to “see where the peace talks go” before resuming some counter sanctions against evasion, even though the administration had imposed sanctions on Iran and Cuba during negotiations with those countries.
The letter also quotes Rubio, who said in May that peace talks between Russia and Ukraine had not been productive, and that no such talks were taking place at that time.
The letter states that from the invasion in February 2022 through January 2025, the month Donald Trump took office for a second time, 111 sets of sanctions were imposed against Russia.
The senators acknowledged that sanctions imposed during the tenure of former President Joe Biden did little to stop Russia.
They are asking officials to respond by 28 August to the following question: “If the administration paused regular sanctions against Russia because of peace talks, and those talks reached an impasse several months ago, why has the administration not resumed routine and frequent U.S. sanctions to restore leverage for a just peace in Ukraine?”
The Senate passed new legislation on sanctions against Russia this month, but its future is uncertain. Democrats and some Republicans are concerned that it could allow Trump to gain new powers to impose tariffs on goods from US allies, including Japan and some European countries.
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