The Hill: U.S. Senate adjourns for recess without passing Russia sanctions – decision up to Trump

The U.S. Senate is going to go on summer recess without passing a bill to impose sanctions on Russia. This gives US President Donald Trump the exclusive right to make this decision on his own, reports The Hill.

It is noted that the Senate hawks on the Ukrainian issue wanted their bill to be passed before the summer recess, which will last a month. However, the decision was never made by them, but may be made by Trump.

"I think he will be very careful what he does. But I think he's clearly frustrated with Putin, and I think he's now starting to realize that a lot of us were right," Senator Mike Rounds told The Hill.

Democrats are skeptical that Trump can "punish" Putin, despite their growing frustration with the Russian dictator.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch told The Hill that the decision on what sanctions will be imposed on Russia is still in the works. And Richard Blumenthal, a co-author of the sanctions bill, said he would consider it a victory if Trump imposed at least a fifth of what the Senate proposes.

"In our draft law, we propose 500 percent. If it is 250 percent, I would accept it. Even if it is 100 percent, maybe. But you should impose the most severe sanctions that will not allow them to fuel Russia's military machine," he said .

• on July 28, Trump shortened his 50-day ultimatum to Putin and gave him "10 or 12 days" to conclude a peace deal, otherwise, secondary duties will be applied to buyers of Russian resources .
• However, on July 29, the US president said that Putin has 10 days to end the war against Ukraine. At the same time, he believes that the settlement of the war in Ukraine will take a long time .
• On July 31, US diplomat Kelly said that an agreement between Russia and Ukraine should be reached by August 8, otherwise the US will be ready to take additional measures to ensure peace.