Whitehouse Returns from Bipartisan, Bicameral Delegation to OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in The Hague

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), the Senate Ranking Member of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the “Helsinki Commission”), returned today to the United States after co-leading a bipartisan, bicameral congressional delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly’s 33 rd Annual Meeting in The Hague, Netherlands. In The Hague, Whitehouse participated in committee meetings of the OSCE Parliament, where he introduced and passed two amendments, one to encourage OSCE member states to adopt a tougher stance on the maritime service providers that support the “shadow fleet” vessels that Russia uses to illegally export oil in violation of international sanctions, and one to condemn Russia’s policy of incentivizing its citizens to move into illegally-occupied areas of Ukraine. Whitehouse also co-hosted a side event at the conference with other members of the American delegation entitled: “Prioritizing the Human Dimension of the Ukraine Ceasefire Talks: People First.”  The event featured the esteemed Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, as well as Nobel laureates from Ukraine and Belarus.  Whitehouse and the American delegation also huddled with delegations from Moldova and the Nordic and Baltic countries Whitehouse released the following statement at the conclusion of the Annual Meeting: “Despite being left for dead by Putin-loving Trump and the self-dealing ‘diplomats’ Witkoff and Kushner, Ukraine is winning the war against the murderous Russian invaders.  Brave Ukraine’s response to Russian aggression makes me proud to be a human being. “There is bipartisan consensus at home and among parliamentarians abroad that the pressure in negotiations should be on Russia’s war criminals, not Ukraine’s patriots.  I’m very pleased the OSCE Assembly overwhelmingly adopted my amendments to crack down on the Russian Shadow Fleet and spotlight the systemic and illegal Russian resettlement operation in occupied Ukraine.” Other members of the bipartisan, bicameral American delegation included Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), the Senate Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC-2), the House Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, and Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX-37), Andy Harris, M.D. (R-MD-1), Marc Veasey (D-TX-33), Greg Murphy, M.D. (R-NC-6), and Jake Ellzey (R-TX-6) . In February, Senators Whitehouse and Wicker participated in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Winter Meeting in Vienna, Austria, where they pushed the U.S. and our European allies to cooperate to shut down Russia’s shadow fleet that fuels the Russian oil and gas economy. In September 2025, Senators Whitehouse, Shaheen, Blumenthal, and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Jim Risch (R-ID) introduced the SHADOW Fleets Sanctions Act to crack down on the fleet of dangerously dilapidated and reflagged oil tankers that Russia uses to circumvent existing U.S. sanctions and fund its war on Ukraine.  The legislation, which was passed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, would punish the facilitators and enablers of Putin’s shadow fleet and further discourages countries from purchasing Russian oil.  Whitehouse, in his role as Senate Ranking Member of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, also sent a bipartisan, bicameral letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent urging the Trump administration to impose further sanctions on Russia’s shadow fleet.