Ukraine Update (with Turza Comment)

The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations reported out a bill introduced by Senator Menendez authorizing sanctions against Ukrainians and Russians responsible for threatening violence or undermining peace in Ukraine, as well as those responsible for "significant corruption" in Ukraine and Russia. While the bill has yet to be assigned a number, a copy of it is attached below. There is also attached a resolution passed by the Senate on March 11 condemning "illegal Russian aggression in Ukraine" that, among other things, urges President Obama "to use appropriate diplomatic and economic measures, including calibrated sanctions, against those individuals responsible for the illegal seizure of Crimea." (See attached S. Res. 378.) As noted in our Cabinet posting on March 12, the House of Representatives passed a similar resolution on March 11 (see H. Res. 499).

In the absence of further action this week in the House or Senate to move the bills forward, and with Congress in recess next week, it will be left to President Obama to provide the U.S. Government's immediate response to Sunday's referendum in Crimea. The groundwork for this was laid with the issuance of Executive Order 13360 on March 6.

James Treanor, an associate in Cadwalader's Washington Office, has been monitoring the various hearings.

Dale Turza Comment: Any actions by the Executive Branch, which has closely coordinated with Congress on this issue, are expected to be measured and limited to targeted sanctions against specific individuals, similar to the list of former Ukrainian officials and associates issued under a European Union regulation last week. The Executive Order provides the President with the flexibility of adding (or, at a later time, deleting) individuals and entities, as U.S. foreign policy evolves on the issue.

See: S. Res. 378 ("A resolution condemning illegal Russian aggression in Ukraine"); S. 2124 ("Support for the Sovereignty, Integrity, Democracy, and Economic Stability of Ukraine Act of 2014").For a copy of the E.U. list and Executive Order 13660, see the Cabinet's posting on March 10.