EDITORIAL: Now is time to pass bipartisan Russian sanctions bill

Keeping track of President Donald Trump’s various diplomatic maneuvers can be challenging, to say the least. His latest ruminations on Ukraine represent another example of the president’s unpredictable and unconventional approach to foreign relations.

On Tuesday, Mr. Trump made his most aggressive statements yet in defense of Ukraine in its fight to avert Russian aggression. Writing on Truth Social, he remarked that “with time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Border from where this War started is very much an option.” He also turned his sights on Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling Russia a “paper tiger” suffering from economic problems triggered by Western sanctions.

The president also told reporters that European forces should shoot down Russian planes that encroach on NATO airspace.

Mr. Trump’s comments came after he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York — and nine months after the two had their well-publicized blow-up during a February gathering at the White House.

Whether this indicates the president’s frustration with Putin’s lies and obfuscations has finally reached a tipping point remains to be seen. The Russian leader started this war and, by many estimates, has sent up to 250,000 Russian soldiers to their deaths. What Putin believed would be a brief military victory has turned into a deadly slog. His strategy relies on the belief that playing along with Mr. Trump’s peace efforts will buy him more time to carry out his unprovoked warmongering.

The president’s defense of Ukraine sends a more demanding message to Putin. Mr. Trump should follow up by informing the Senate that he’s willing to sign a pending bipartisan sanctions bill that would turn the screws on Russia and nations financing its war effort. The proposal — sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat — would impose 500 percent tariffs on countries that purchase Russian uranium, gas and oil.

Sen. Graham called the bill “a sledgehammer available to President Trump to go after Putin’s economy and all those countries who prop up the Putin war machine.” Sen. Blumenthal has remarked that “One of the main priorities of our legislation is to hold China accountable” for enabling the first major conflict on European soil in 80 years.

The proposal has 85 co-sponsors in the upper chamber, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune has been waiting for months for a signal from Mr. Trump before bringing the legislation to the floor. The sanctions would further endanger Russia’s already fragile economy and further isolate the nation. The president should delay no longer and publicly support the legislation.