U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal hopes that the House of Representatives could approve Russia sanctions bill, initiated by the late Senator Lindsey Graham, in September.
Blumenthal made the remarks at a press conference in Kyiv, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
“I said when I was here last in the spring in May that we would redouble our efforts to pass the sanctions bill. Now that it's happened in the Senate, I'm going back with increased resolve that it should be passed also in the House of Representatives. I hope it will be in September. The house comes back in September and I've been in very close touch with leadership in the House and I'm very hopeful that there will be a determination to pass it then,” the senator said.
In his view, the U.S. can play an important role in persuading Vladimir Putin to come to the negotiating table. In this regard, Blumenthal considers the sanctions bill extremely important given the economic pressure facing the Russian dictator.
“He causes a humongous deficit more than $120 billion dollars this year. Ukraine is reaching deep into Russia and destroying not only refineries, but also warehouses. And Putin is feeling economic pressure that he hasn't before,” the Senator said.
