Ukraine

Floor Speech

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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.

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