[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 70 (Monday, April 28, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S2595]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                UKRAINE

  Mr. WICKER. Madam President, I come to the floor today to add my 
voice to the many who are commending President Trump as he works toward 
peace in Ukraine.
  The President recently gave the aggressor, Russian dictator Vladimir 
Putin, every chance to put down his guns and end the killing. He has 
done that over and over, but our President is now showing that he will 
not wait on Mr. Putin forever. Every time Ukraine and the United States 
have extended the hand of peace, President Putin has responded with 
aggression. With one hand, Vladimir Putin always makes a show of 
participating in peace talks. With the other, he has repeatedly bombed 
civilians--a clear war crime, a war crime--including just on Sunday of 
last week, Palm Sunday, when he bombed worshipers and children who were 
playing on a public playground.
  On Saturday, the day before yesterday, the President took Mr. Putin 
to task for this brutality, and I commend the President for doing that.
  The President said:

       There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into 
     civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days. It 
     makes me think that maybe he doesn't want to stop the war--
     he's just tapping me along--and has to be dealt with 
     differently.

  Thank you, Mr. President, for saying that.
  One of the President's staunchest supporters in this body echoed that 
statement just yesterday.
  Senator Kennedy of Louisiana said:

       [P]utin thinks that America has taken the bullet train to 
     chump town.

  Chump town.
  The President is right, and Senator Kennedy of Louisiana is right. 
There is one man to blame for this war. If Vladimir Putin puts down his 
guns, there will be no more war. If Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine put 
down their guns, there will be no more Ukraine. That is the simple 
truth, and I appreciate the President expressing that forcefully.
  Then, today, GEN Jack Keane, a very respected observer and officer 
and official in the Institute for the Study of War, expressed 
essentially the same sentiments as Donald Trump expressed the day 
before yesterday and as Senator Kennedy expressed yesterday. On FOX 
News this morning, General Keane gave the President due credit for 
pursuing peace in Ukraine. The general noted that President Trump, 
understandably, seems to be running out of patience with Putin's 
intransigence.
  I know that many Members of this Chamber are running out of patience 
too.
  General Keane then asked a simple question: Which side has shown that 
it wants a peace deal? Both sides claim they want peace, but what is 
the evidence?
  And here is the truth: The truth is that Ukrainian President 
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has shown that he is interested in peace. He has 
negotiated at length with the administration. Ukraine and its President 
agreed to a 30-day cease-fire. Vladimir Putin rejected the idea. 
Instead, Putin initiated an agreement to halt attacks on energy 
infrastructure, and then he immediately violated that agreement. Mr. 
Putin did.
  Worst of all, throughout these so-called peace talks, Vladimir Putin 
has repeatedly taken the lives of noncombatant civilians and pummeled 
residential neighborhoods with bombs. Every statement Mr. Putin makes 
should be viewed through that lens.
  President Trump is right. Too many people are dying, and that 
includes the Russian people who are also suffering.
  The Russian people do not deserve to live under a vicious, larcenous, 
trillionaire president-for-life like Vladimir Putin. So far, only one 
side has worked to end violence.
  This weekend, the Trump administration set a timeline for Vladimir 
Putin to choose peace, and I commend them for it. I commend Secretary 
of State Marco Rubio who said the President will decide soon whether 
Putin is interested in actually working toward a just end to the war.
  All signs indicate the answer will be no. The real answer from 
Vladimir Putin will be no. Just this morning, the Russian Foreign 
Ministry published words straight from the mouth of Russian Foreign 
Minister Sergey Lavrov. In no uncertain terms, this high-ranking 
Russian official rejected President Trump's peace deal.
  So this is a pivotal week. I look forward to the President's 
decision. I would remind him and my fellow colleagues: Putin cannot be 
allowed to drag the United States along.
  The U.S. Senate is ready to back President Trump as he stands up to 
Putin, on a bipartisan basis; 50 Senators--25 Republicans and 25 
Democrats--recently introduced a bill called the Sanctioning Russia Act 
of 2025. Who says there is not bipartisanship in the Senate? Recently, 
25 Republicans and 25 Democrats have introduced legislation that would 
introduce primary and secondary sanctions against Russia and against 
actors supporting Russia's aggression in Ukraine, imposing real 
consequences on Putin if he continues refusing to engage in good-faith 
talks with Ukraine and the United States. And he has never engaged in 
any talks that were in good faith.
  Putin repeatedly bombs civilians. He has forged a trail of broken 
promises. He, and only he, chose--unprovoked--to start the largest land 
war in Europe since World War II. Putin, and only Putin, did that. 
Where in any of this has there been a showing of good faith?
  On Saturday, the President suggested that Putin ``has to be dealt 
with differently.'' I applaud this. My Senate colleagues applaud this. 
Experienced military professionals like General Keane applaud this. The 
President has been exceedingly patient, but he is correctly stating 
that there should be an end.
  It is time to treat Putin like the deceptive, cunning war criminal 
that he is.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi.

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