Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee have accused President Donald Trump of failing to sustain sanctions pressure on Russia, arguing that Washington has scaled back economic leverage even as Moscow’s war in Ukraine grinds into its fifth year.
In an analysis released on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s February 24, 2022 invasion, Democratic staff on the Republican-led committee said the European Union had designated nearly 900 sanctions targets in 2025 alone, compared with just two major targets named by the United States.
The report identified hundreds of entities and individuals it said the administration could have sanctioned during Trump’s first year back in office. It argued that reduced U.S. action risks weakening Western leverage at a time when ceasefire talks remain stalled.
During former president Joe Biden’s tenure, the U.S. rolled out at least 32 sanctions packages in each of the war’s first three years, according to the Democratic memo. Critics of Biden’s approach, however, said enforcement often lagged and that sanctions failed to alter the course of the conflict.
Since returning to office in January 2025, Trump has announced one major package targeting Russian oil giants Lukoil and Rosneft. The Treasury Department has defended that move, arguing it contributed to a decline in Russian oil prices and constrained revenue flows to the Kremlin.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told lawmakers last month that the measures helped bring Russia to the negotiating table. He said further sanctions would depend on diplomatic progress toward ending the war and indicated openness to measures against Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers.
Democratic lawmakers contend that such restraint undermines negotiating leverage. The committee report cited Russia’s continued dependence on imported technologies critical to its military industry, pointing to more than 130 companies in China and Hong Kong allegedly advertising restricted semiconductor sales to Russian buyers.
The analysis also highlighted firms sanctioned by the EU and Britain for aiding Russia’s military effort, as well as Central Asian banks designated by Brussels last year. It criticised the administration for not targeting additional actors linked to Russia’s shadow fleet or officials accused of human rights abuses, including the deportation of Ukrainian children.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Washington, Olha Stefanishyna, urged Congress to advance a bipartisan bill that would impose secondary sanctions on countries purchasing Russian oil, gas and uranium. The measure reportedly has support from 85 senators but has not been brought to a vote amid resistance from Trump-aligned Republicans.
The White House did not immediately comment on the Democratic report.
The debate unfolds as Trump presses Kyiv to accept a ceasefire that could involve territorial concessions, a proposal that has yet to produce a breakthrough in talks with Moscow. The administration maintains that calibrated sanctions, combined with diplomacy, offer a path to ending what it has described as a costly and protracted conflict.
Democrats counter that without sustained economic pressure, Russia has little incentive to compromise. As the war continues to claim lives and devastate infrastructure, the dispute over sanctions strategy reflects a broader divide in Washington over how to balance negotiation and coercion in confronting Moscow.
