Sen. John Kennedy said Sunday that the Trump administration needs a harder line on Vladimir Putin, even as U.S. envoys were meeting with leaders on both sides of the Ukraine conflict. Kennedy said the effort so far has not shown enough force, and he said Republicans should have already passed the Russian sanctions bill the Senate approved in August.
“This guy’s a pirate. He’s got blood under his fingernails. He doesn’t care about a bunch of pretty talk,” Kennedy said of Putin. “You don’t get any credit for kissing his ass. You’ve got to show him you mean business.”
The Louisiana Republican said the House failed last week to pass the sanctions measure and argued Congress still has another chance. “We should have passed that Russian sanctions bill, and we’ve got another chance to do it,” he said. “Then we ought to help Ukraine and help Europe. They’re doing OK on their own, but we can provide them intelligence.”
His comments came as Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met with Vladimir Putin in Russia and with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv this weekend, part of the latest round of U.S.-led diplomacy around the Ukraine peace process. Kennedy said he would not be surprised if the officials came back without a deal. “I’m not putting down any of the talk, and I think talk is good and it can be helpful. But I won’t faint with surprise if our guys don’t come out of there without a deal,” he said.
The sharp criticism landed alongside praise for a different part of the administration’s foreign policy. On the same program, Kennedy told Kristen Welker that the war in Iran will “probably not” end before the upcoming midterm elections, called the Strait of Hormuz “semi-closed,” and said the blockade was helping pressure Iran even if gas prices in the U.S. stay high for now. “We have accomplished all of our objectives in Iran,” he said. “There’s just one problem: the Strait [of Hormuz] is semi-closed.”
Kennedy also used the interview to argue that Republicans in Congress are running out of time to do much on inflation before November’s midterm elections. He said the economy is “solid” and unemployment is “low,” but inflation is “a big if” and “gutting people like a fish.” He said Senate Republicans should have tackled it in a reconciliation bill about five months ago, adding that he could not get the majority leader to bring one to the floor. “We can do anything we want to in reconciliation and ask the House to come back and do it,” he said. In Kennedy’s view, the next test is whether Republicans can still turn talk into votes on Russia and on costs before the political clock runs out.
