Former Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday urged President Trump to bring the “hammer” down on Vladimir Putin and push for additional sanctions against Russia.
Pence commended Trump for seeking peace in Ukraine following the president’s Alaska summit with the Russian strongman on Friday, but implored him to ramp up the pressure in order to cut a peace deal.
“I served alongside the president for four years. I know his style in dealing with these dictators. It’s the velvet glove, but I think the hammer needs to come, and it needs to come immediately,” Pence said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“[Trump] ought to pick up the phone and ask Majority Leader John Thune to immediately pass the secondary sanctions bill that is supported by virtually everyone in the United States Senate,” he said.
Pence emphasized that the Russian president is “the bad guy” and should be treated as such during negotiations.
Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) have, for several months, championed a sanctions bill against Russia, with over 80 senators backing it.
Trump shrugged off the bill as unnecessary and instead gave Putin an ultimatum, demanding the Kremlin tyrant take steps toward peace by Aug. 8 or else face severe secondary sanctions and tariffs.
Following a meeting Putin had with special envoy Steve Witkoff at the Kremlin just days before that deadline, Trump decided to call off the economic penalties and hold the Friday summit with the Russian tyrant instead.
Pence warned that Putin may be attempting to “run out the clock” and delay sanctions that could batter his country’s economy as long as possible.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has swatted off criticism that the Trump administration has slow-walked economic sanctions against Russia, arguing that such a move would hamstring peace talks.
“You’re saying talks are over. For the foreseeable future, for the next year or year-and-a-half, there’s no more talks, because there’s no one else in the world that can talk to him (Putin),” Rubio told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” about the implications of additional sanctions against Russia.
Putin did not agree to a ceasefire during his summit with Trump, and the US president has since opted to pivot towards pursuing a full-fledged peace deal.
Pence said he “was not surprised” that the historic meeting didn’t end in a ceasefire deal.
“There was an agreement by President Zelensky to a cease-fire back in February. Putin refused it. He’s managed to delay the game,” the ex-VP said on CNN.
“All the while, his military has continued its brutal assault on civilian populations in Ukraine.”
Trump, ahead of the summit, had told Fox News that he wouldn’t be “happy” if his Russian counterpart didn’t agree to a ceasefire.
Trump is set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Monday.
A group of European leaders will join Zelensky during his trip to Washington, DC, though it is not clear if they will be present in the White House meeting.
“I’m also going to be praying that it’s a productive time and a unifying time among all the leaders in the West and the president and President Zelensky,” Pence said.
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