U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs minority urges the Trump Administration to end a seven-month pause on targeted Russia sanctions

Minority members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, led by Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren, sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pressing the Administration to resume regular rounds of targeted Russia sanctions and to clarify its response to reports that China has taken deliveries from Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project. The letter cites China as the first country to accept natural gas deliveries from Arctic LNG 2 and argues that prior coordinated rounds of targeted sanctions had prevented buyers for the project. It warns that absent a rapid response, the deliveries could signal that sanctioned Russian LNG can be purchased without consequence, potentially enabling Russia to gain tens of billions of dollars in revenue. The Senators ask how the Administration plans to reinforce existing U.S. sanctions on the project, deter future deliveries, and restore economic pressure against Russia and its enablers, and also seek information on any conversations Secretary Bessent has had with PRC Vice Premier He Lifeng about the deliveries. Responses are requested by October 1, 2025. The effort follows an investigative report released last month by minority staff of the Senate Banking and Foreign Relations Committees on the Administration’s use of economic tools to pressure Russia.