Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that there’s a “new sheriff in town” and that the Senate is prepared to act regardless of the next steps the Russian leader chooses to take.
In a pair of posts on the social platform X and in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Tuesday, Graham said Putin’s dramatic escalation in military strikes over the weekend and his two-hour phone call with President Trump last week reflect the “same ol’, same ol’ from Putin’s Russia.”
“Escalate to de-escalate,” Graham wrote in a post on X, naming Putin’s first strategy, before naming Putin’s second: “Drag it out, hoping others lose interest.”
“There’s a new sheriff in town,” Graham continued. “The old playbook won’t work this time.”
Graham praised Trump’s efforts to “bring Ukraine and Russia together to achieve a just and honorable peace, ensuring global stability,” in the Journal op-ed, adding, “Yet peace requires willing partners.”
“While Ukraine has made clear it is ready for such an end, Russia has made more excuses than the market can bear,” Graham continued.
He noted Trump has asked Putin to provide a term sheet with his requirements for a ceasefire, to create a path toward peace.
“Depending on how Russia responds, we will know which course to take,” Graham said.
Graham — a co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill to slap 500 percent tariffs on countries that buy Russian energy products — said his bill has 82 co-sponsors and “would put Russia on a trade island.”
“The consequences of its barbaric invasion must be made real to those that prop it up. If China or India stopped buying cheap oil, Mr. Putin’s war machine would grind to a halt,” Graham wrote in his op-ed.
“As Sen. Thune said last week, if Mr. Putin continues to play games, the Senate will act. I’m hoping for the best, but when it comes to the thug in Moscow, we should all prepare for more of the same,” he added, referring to comments from Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.).
