Senate negotiations on "mother of all sanctions" bill against Russia continue as deadlines loom

Negotiations on Senator Robert Menendez's "mother of all sanctions" bill are still going on in the Gang of 8 bipartisan senators from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but time is running out for any sanctions legislation to have a deterrent effect before any potential Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Russia's joint military exercises with Belarus will end on February 20, close to when the Beijing Winter Olympics conclude. President Vladimir Putin seems unlikely to invade while the Olympics are going on – Russian athletes are competing and he himself attended the opening ceremonies. Russia does have a history of invading around the Olympics, though, notably going into Georgia in 2008, around the Summer Olympics and into Crimea in 2014 around the Winter Olympics. The Senate goes into recess for a week on February 21, leaving little time for them to enact a bill. 

The "Gang of 8" is made up of Menendez and fellow Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Ben Cardin of Maryland and Republicans Senators Jim Risch of Idaho, Rob Portman of Ohio, John Cornyn of Texas and Lindsay Graham of South Carolina. A Senate aide said they are discussing whether a Russian cyberattack on Ukraine should trigger sanctions, even absent an invasion.