Deferring to Trump, Senate Pulls Back on New Russia Sanctions

President Trump’s threat to penalize Russia if it fails to reach a cease-fire with Ukraine has halted a bipartisan push in the Senate to impose harsh new sanctions on countries that do business with Moscow, effectively freezing an effort by Congress to apply overwhelming pressure on President Vladimir V. Putin.

The pause comes as Russia’s summer offensive against Ukraine is gaining ground and is the latest instance of the Republican-led Congress deferring to Mr. Trump even on matters on which lawmakers in both parties hold strong views.

The legislation, cosponsored by Senators Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, has the backing of 83 other senators, reflecting a rare bit of consensus in a polarized Congress around targeting Moscow with exceedingly strong penalties. It would slap sanctions of a minimum of 500 percent on imports from Russia or from any country that buys Russian uranium or oil products.

But after initially saying the bill could come to a vote this month, Republican leaders have stepped back to allow Mr. Trump to pursue unilateral action. Their retreat came after the president said this month that he would impose tariffs of 100 percent on Russia and its trading partners if Mr. Putin did not agree to a cease-fire in 50 days — a threat that some analysts and experts doubt Mr. Trump will act on.

“The president, I think, has decided to move sort of unilaterally on that front,” Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, said in an interview on Fox News, adding that Mr. Trump “understands what it’s going to take to get the Russians to the table.

“We want to work with him and be partners on that,” Mr. Thune added. “And when he green-lights the legislation, we’ll move forward with it.”