Senator John F. Kennedy said on Sunday that the Trump administration should take a harder line on Vladimir Putin while Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were meeting with Putin in Russia and with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. He made the comments on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” and tied them to the Ukraine peace process.
Kennedy said, “We got Putin down. We’re choking him to death. We’re choking him. We’ve got to choke him to death. That’s what he understands.” He also said, “You don’t get any credit for kissing his ass. You’ve got to show him you mean business.”
Senate and House
His criticism came after the House failed to pass a Russian sanctions bill that the Senate approved in August. Kennedy said, “We should have passed that Russian sanctions bill, and we’ve got another chance to do it.” He added, “Then we ought to help Ukraine and help Europe. They’re doing OK on their own, but we can provide them intelligence.”
The sequence matters for the talks now underway. The administration is pushing diplomacy while Congress has not moved the sanctions measure forward, leaving Kennedy arguing for more pressure at the same time envoys are trying to reach a deal.
Republican leadership
Kennedy also criticized Republican leadership on Sunday and said inflation should have been addressed about five months ago in a reconciliation bill. He said, “It’s gutting people like a fish. Inflation is pernicious.”
He said he could not convince the majority leader to put a bill like that on the floor and said Senate Republicans were probably three or four votes short. Kennedy added that Republicans could use reconciliation and ask the House to come back and do it.
For now, the immediate question is whether the envoys leave the talks with a deal. Kennedy said he would not be surprised if they do not, and his remarks leave the administration under pressure to show what its diplomacy can produce before Congress revisits sanctions and spending.
