Congress Should Strengthen Trump’s Hand on Ukraine
By passing lend-lease legislation for Ukraine and authorizing secondary sanctions on those who help Russia evade existing oil, gas, and financial sanctions, Congress can give President Trump a strong hand to play in future talks aimed at convincing Putin to end the war.
Over 100 days have passed since President Trump took office and urged Vladimir Putin to end his war on Ukraine. “We can do it the easy way, or the hard way – and the easy way is always better,” he wrote on Jan. 21 on X. Since then, Trump has given Putin every possible opportunity and inducement to stop the fighting, yet Putin has refused “the easy way.”
Trump has at times been frustrated with Ukrainian President Zelensky and has applied significant pressure on Ukraine, for example, by cutting off U.S. military supplies and intelligence support for 11 days. It now seems clear, however, that the United States and Ukraine are aligned when it comes to supporting a full and immediate ceasefire, a 30-day ceasefire as a stepping-stone toward that, and a minerals deal that will assure that Ukraine will pay its own way for support going forward, rather than relying on U.S. taxpayers.
By contrast, Putin has flatly rejected Trump’s calls for a ceasefire, saying “yes, but…” in any number of ways. Indeed, he has increased his preconditions for agreeing to a ceasefire and escalated his attacks on Ukrainian civilians at the same time.
Putin has chosen “the hard way.” In some cases, Putin’s refusal has seemed to mock Trump intentionally. For example, Russian forces attacked civilian worshippers in Sumy, Ukraine, on Palm Sunday within hours of Putin’s meeting with Trump’s Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, in St. Petersburg. Putin explicitly rejected Ukraine’s offer of a 30-day ceasefire and then offered a 30-hour ceasefire instead (and did not implement even that).
Clearly frustrated after one of Putin’s many recent bombings of Kyiv, Trump again threatened secondary sanctions and warned Putin, “Vladimir, STOP!” But Putin has not stopped. Why? Because he feels no pressure.
Given all the carrots he has been offered by Washington and the sticks he has seen deployed on Kyiv, Putin probably feels more comfortable in continuing the war than he did on Jan. 21. He still believes he can gain all of Ukraine if he out-waits the West. This illusion must be shattered.
Here is where Congress can play a critical role. Congress can put in place authorizations and funding mechanisms that will demonstrate to Putin that the United States, along with its European allies, has the political, legal, and financial backing already in place to ensure that the costs to Russia of continuing this war will be unacceptable to Russia. If Putin continues to ignore Trump’s calls for peace, Trump will already have Congressional backing to act.
Two steps are key:
First, Congress must pass a modern Lend-Lease Act that enables Ukraine to borrow directly from the U.S. government to purchase American arms and ammunition, collateralized by the U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal, so it counts as a loan, not an appropriation. No dollars would leave the United States – they would all be spent by Ukraine in the U.S. The U.S. provided such lend-lease support for the United Kingdom in World War II and should do so for Ukraine now. This would allow Trump to keep his commitment that no more taxpayer dollars should go to Ukraine, while creating a pathway for military support to Ukraine to continue on a sustainable, “paid-for” basis.
Second, Congress should authorize the application of secondary sanctions on Russia’s oil and gas exports, including vessels that carry those shipments and the financial institutions that enable them. While the West has imposed significant sanctions already, too many loopholes remain, and enforcement has been lax. Moscow continues to generate significant revenue through third-party intermediaries and shadow fleets that evade enforcement. These energy profits are the principal source of revenue that fuels Russia’s war on Ukraine, and we can do far more to shut it down.
Such congressional authorizations would not necessarily take effect overnight: Rather, they would give a pathway for President Trump to accept such measures being imposed, or instead to waive them (in full or in part) for “national security reasons,” if Putin actually changes his position and accepts a ceasefire. Such measures would therefore strengthen President Trump’s hand as he deals with Putin.
Together, these two actions – modern Lend-Lease and secondary sanctions – send a decisive message to Moscow: Continuing this war will carry unbearable costs. Putin must understand that stalling for time, ignoring ceasefire overtures, and waiting for political division in the West will not work. If anything, the opposite is true: The longer he refuses to negotiate in good faith, the more painful his position will become.
It is time to recognize that, despite Trump’s best efforts thus far, Putin has rejected peace. After 100+ days, as President Trump himself said, it is time to try another approach. If Congress were to approve measures such as these, it would give a real seriousness and depth to Trump’s efforts to get Putin to agree to a ceasefire. If Putin continues to stall, Trump could simply let these measures take effect. But if Putin actually agrees to a full, immediate, and lasting ceasefire, Trump will have achieved his goal. The policy lead is still Trump’s, but Congress can make his position far more formidable.