Giving Congress a taste of its own medicine, 64-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putn retaliated as promised in a big way for Congress passing new sanctions July 27. President Donald Trump practically stood on his head trying to neutralize the Russian hysteria on Capitol Hill. When Trump met with Putin July 7 at the G20 in Hamburg, the two had excellent rapport, something irking war hawks like Sen. John McCain (R-Az.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), determined from the day Trump took office to sabotage any attempt to improve U.S.-Russian relations. Putin showed great restraint Dec. 30, 2016, the day former President Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats, seizing two Russian properties, for alleged meddling in the 2016 election. Putin hoped things would be different under Trump. Trump now finds the sanctions bill on his desk, pressured to sign it.
Trump’s been beaten down by a paranoid and self-destructive House and Senate, both voting in new sanctions knowing it would destroy any attempt to reset relations. Trump hoped the Congress would see the wisdom of resetting relations with Moscow given pressing geopolitical threats to the U.S. like North Korea. With Putin on the U.S. side, there was a possibility of drumming some sense into the volatile 33-year-old North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un. Without Putin, diplomatic options are running out to stop North Korea’s feverish pursuit of a nuclear-armed Intercontinental Ballistic Missile [ICBM]. Whipped into a frenzy, Congress could only see the value of punishing Russia with new economic sanctions. Putin now tells the U.S. State Department to reduce its Moscow embassy staff by 755, reducing the total number of U.S. diplomatic personal in Russia to 455.
While McCain returns to Arizona for chemotherapy, the rest of the U.S. Senate can sit back and contemplate the recklessness of its July 27 sanctions bill. All 100 U.S. senators know that new sanctions won’t return the Crimean Peninsula to Ukraine or end Moscow’s support of pro-Russian separatist in the Donbass region of Southeastern Ukraine. Nor will the sanctions help the U.S.to contain a growing North Korean nuclear threat. Whatever happened in the 2016 election, alienating the Kremlin hasn’t given the U.S. more leverage on the world stage or improve U.S. national security. “We had hoped that the situation will somehow change, but apparently if it changes, it won’t be soon,” said Putin deciding to put down the hammer on the U.S. Trump’s decision to sign the July 27 sanctions bill shows that he’s more concerned about a Senate override than doing the right thing.
Trump should 100% veto the irresponsible and provocative bill, regardless of whether the Senate musters enough votes to override. Trump didn’t want more Russian sanctions, he wanted to improve U.S.-Russian relations. Accusing Russia of meddling in the 2016 election and slapping it new sanctions was bound to meet a harsh reaction from the Kremlin. “I thought it was the time to show that we’re not going to leave it without an answer,” said Putin, reluctantly retaliating for the Congress’s reckless sanctions bill, doing nothing other than harm U.S. national security. Trump’s original instinct of improving U.S.-Russian relations would have paid rich dividends had the rabidly anti-Russian Congress not sabotaged it. Now the State Department calls Putin’s action “a regrettable and uncalled for act,” something so feeble, so out-of-touch, so feckless that it defies imagination.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry offered a series of warnings regarding the Russian sanctions bill percolating in Congress. When Putin finally reacted today expelling 755 U.S. diplomatic personnel, the State Department looked dumbfounded. “This is a regrettable and uncalled for act. We are assessing the impact of such a limitation and how we will respond to it. We have no further comments at this time,” said the State Department, realizing that Congress had pulled the rug out from underneath the Moscow operation. Instead of throwing up its hands, the Congress should admit it made a serious mistake approving new Russian sanctions. Trump, before it’s too late, should absolutely veto the reckless bill on the grounds that it harms U.S. national security. Letting the heard mentality in Congress wreck U.S.-Russian relations warrants, at the very least, a presidential veto.
Democrats and Republicans in Congress find themselves equally misguided on the Russian sanctions bill. Both sides need to get a grip on their Russian hysteria, realizing that U.S. foreign policy runs on linkage, where adversaries find common ground. Congress needs to admit that Russian hysteria has blinded the House and Senate from looking at the big picture, finding common ground with Russia and avoiding the adversarial relationship pushing the world to the brink. Instead of dwelling about water under the bridge or alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election, Congress must see the big picture of today’s global threats, strategizing what can be done to improve U.S. national security. Approving new Russian sanctions showed how reckless Congress has become without understanding the consequences its actions. Putin sent Trump and Congress an ugly wake up call today.
