Durbin Calls For Senate To Pass Russian Sanctions Legislation As Putin Continues His Assault On Ukraine

June 17, 2026 Durbin Calls For Senate To Pass Russian Sanctions Legislation As Putin Continues His Assault On Ukraine WASHINGTON – As Russian President Vladimir Putin continues his assaults against Ukraine, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Co-Chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, today delivered a speech on the Senate floor calling for the Senate to finally pass Russian sanctions legislation. On Monday, Russia fired a barrage of missiles at several major Ukrainian cities, killing at least 11 people and sparking a massive fire at one of the most important Orthodox monasteries, a UNESCO world heritage site. And Russia has continued its acts of sabotage and provocation throughout NATO and Europe—not to mention its supplying of targeting information to Iran to attack U.S. interests in the region. “Remember when President Trump announced he would end the war in Ukraine on his first day in office? Instead, over a year and a half later, President Trump and Vice President Vance have publicly humiliated Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and made embarrassing friendly overtures to the man who attacked his country, who attacked Ukraine, Russian President Putin,” Durbin said. “Mr. Putin’s response has been to thumb his nose at the United States and any efforts towards peace. In fact, in recent months, Putin has launched some of the deadliest attacks on civilian targets since the Ukrainian war began. This invasion by the Russians of Ukraine has now lasted longer than World War I.” Durbin then called out the Trump Administration for sending a U.S. official to Putin’s annual economic conference earlier this month in St. Petersburg, Russia. This annual event—staged to show Russian defiance to global economic sanctions—has not had an official U.S. representative attend since 2018. “Imagine my surprise that amid all of these Russian attacks on Ukraine and neighboring countries, the Trump Administration sent a U.S. official to Putin’s annual economic conference earlier this month in St. Petersburg, Russia. We had an official delegation to Putin’s economic development conference for Russia while we are trying to stop them from attacking Ukraine and other countries…We had the U.S. Chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts representing the United States. His name is Rodney Mims Cook, Jr. He was at the event with President Putin in St. Petersburg to talk about economic development in Russia. And yet you may recall, Mr. Cook has been officially helping President Trump with his grandiose ballroom and arch projects,” said Durbin. “Why would President Trump give any U.S. legitimacy to this Russia propaganda event while Putin continues to bomb Ukraine and snub efforts to end the war?” Durbin continued, “On Tuesday, President Trump went as far as to signal that the war in Ukraine was not a priority of the United States. President Trump told reporters at the G7 Summit, and I quote, we had ‘nothing to do’ with a war that was ‘thousands of miles away.’ I could not disagree more.” Durbin then called on the Pentagon to spend the $400 million in Ukraine assistance and $200 million in Baltic Security Initiative funds that this Congress passed several months ago. Durbin also called on the Senate to pass the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill. “I raised the point that we had appropriated these funds officially, signed by President Trump, at recent hearings with Secretary Hegseth and Secretary Rubio. They indicated to me the funds were just getting ready any day now to be moved, which I hope is correct as these should have been sent long ago and not delayed any further,” Durbin said. “It also is long overdue for this chamber to act on Russia and Ukraine related legislation. A few weeks ago, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly, on a bipartisan basis, passed a bill to provide additional security aid to Ukraine and tighten sanctions on Russia. That is exactly what is needed to force Russia to finally negotiate a peace and stop this attack on Ukraine and its people. And here in the Senate, we have a broad bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that’s been pending for months without action.” Durbin concluded, “So while we send the President’s ballroom representative to represent the United States of America in St. Petersburg, Russia, and talk about Putin’s plans for rebuilding Russia’s economy, while that is going on, Russia is attacking the Ukrainians and neighboring countries and the United States, through the President, has announced that’s none of our business.” Video of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here . Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here . Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations. -30- Print Email Share Tweet