Congress is ‘running out of runway’ to devise any Russia sanctions

Bloomberg

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell expressed skepticism about the effectiveness a sanctions bill would have in swaying Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decisions on Ukraine.
“I don’t think Putin will be deterred by any piece of legislation in the Senate,” he said. McConnell said the Nord Stream 2 pipeline should be blocked now and that President Joe Biden already has the authority he needs to enact sanctions.
His comments come as Congress struggles to find a unified position on how to respond if Russia invades Ukraine, and how soon sanctions should kick in. The US and UK say Russia has massed almost 130,000 troops close to the border of Ukraine, though the Kremlin has repeatedly denied that it plans to attack.
Two senators are drawing up a sanctions package but one of the main sticking points is how to tackle Nord Stream 2, a controversial natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. The project was initially expected to start operations by the end of 2019, but it has faced multiple regulatory obstacles. Senate Foreign Relations Chair Bob Menendez, who met with the German leader Monday night, characterized Scholz as “very resolute” about working with the US and other Nato allies.
Menendez and Senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations panel, have been at the center of weeks-long negotiations on whether Russia should face any penalties immediately — regardless of what Moscow does.
“There’s still a question of what sanctions, what very targeted sanctions would go into effect now,” Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said.
Van Hollen said the most punishing sanctions, those that would target the Russian banking system and major economic sectors should be “prospective. That’s the only way you get the deterrent effect.” Even if a deal is reached in the coming days, it could be weeks before any bill can clear Congress because the House is set to leave Washington until the end of February.
“We’re running out of runway here,” Risch said.
Biden at a news conference with Scholz said Nord Stream 2 would be stopped if Russian President Vladimir Putin orders an invasion of Ukraine. “We will bring an end to it,” the president said, without elaborating on how that process might unfold.