Blumenthal Joins 13 Colleagues to Demand Trump Administration Resume Russian Oil Sanctions

[Hartford, CT] - Today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and 13 Senate colleagues urged the Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to fully resume sanctions on Russian oil and use every available tool to cut into Russia's war windfall profits.

In their letter, the Senators note that these steps are crucial to depriving Russian President Vladimir Putin of the revenue he needs to continue waging his war of aggression against Ukraine. Additionally, they point out that pausing these sanctions has not and will not noticeably bring down domestic energy prices - which are spiking because of President Donald Trump's reckless war with Iran.

The letter was also joined by U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary C. Peters (D-MI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Peter Welch (D-VT)

"We urge the Trump Administration to resume the Russia oil sanctions your Department recently paused by issuing and then extending a General License on deliveries of Russian oil. We also urge the Administration and your Department to take immediate, additional steps to limit the windfall profits Russia and its intermediaries continue to earn due to elevated energy prices stemming from President Trump's unauthorized war with Iran. These steps are crucial to depriving Russian President Vladimir Putin of the revenue he needs to continue waging his war of aggression against Ukraine," began the Senators.

"Despite warnings from U.S. government and outside experts, the Trump Administration failed to anticipate or plan for the likelihood that an open-ended war with Iran would spike global energy prices - especially if Iran were to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20 percent of the world's oil and gas transits," the Senators wrote. "The President's self-made global energy crisis has predictably increased average national gasoline prices by over 85 cents a gallon and also raised the price of Russian oil, risking the replenishment of funding for Putin's war machine. Putin has openly spoken of using the crisis to reestablish export markets for Russian oil. Estimates suggest that Russia's oil revenue has doubled in April."

"You described the Administration's sanctions pause as necessary while noting it was 'unfortunate' that Russia stood to benefit financially from the decision. Pausing these sanctions has had and will continue to have, at best, a limited effect on domestic gasoline costs or global oil prices, which remain elevated. Doing so instead removed the stigma that had been driving discounted prices for Russian oil and allowed Russia to sell or resell cargoes to buyers now willing to pay higher prices - giving Putin a financial boon to ease the budgetary challenges resulting from his war on Ukraine. This provides additional funding to the Kremlin and its oil traders even as reports indicate that Russia has helped Iran target Americans," they continued.

"Continuing to pause these sanctions is a mistake that President Trump must reverse immediately. In addition, he must use every tool at his disposal to cut into Russia's war windfall profits, instead of enabling their additional revenue. He has options that he can and must use to reimpose the stigma on and dissuade purchases of Russian oil," the Senators urged.

"Failure to put more pressure on the Kremlin - particularly as the Trump Administration pulls resources necessary to deter Russia and China away from those theaters into the Middle East - would embolden Putin to continue waging his war against Ukraine, aiding Iran's attacks on U.S. troops, and threatening our NATO allies," concluded the Senators.

The full text of the letter is available here.

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