US Senate Democrats have refused to pass a Republican bill to sanction Russia to avoid sabotaging President Joe Biden's diplomatic efforts, while their own bill is largely symbolic and is motivated by a desire not to look soft on Moscow, Robert Singh, a professor of politics at Birkbeck, University of London, told Sputnik on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th January, 2022) US Senate Democrats have refused to pass a Republican bill to sanction Russia to avoid sabotaging President Joe Biden's diplomatic efforts, while their own bill is largely symbolic and is motivated by a desire not to look soft on Moscow, Robert Singh, a professor of politics at Birkbeck, University of London, told Sputnik on Friday.
The US Senate on Thursday rejected Republican Senator Ted Cruz's bill that would impose sanctions within 15 days on companies building and operating the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Meanwhile, 38 Democrat senators led by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez introduced on Wednesday their own bill to sanction Russia in the case it invades Ukraine.
"The extent to which it is designed to put pressure on Moscow is, I think, limited, since most Democrats would support any initiative by the administration - should it decide to do so - to enact new sanctions legislation. So yes, to that extent, the initiative is more symbolic than substantive and is as much, if not more, about partisan politics in the US as it is geo-politics," Singh said.
The Biden administration's officials were on Capitol Hill this week lobbying against the Cruz bill due to concerns it could compromise cooperation between the United States and European partners in early security talks with Russia to address issues in Eastern Europe.
