Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Newsmax on Friday that he’s unsure if President Donald Trump can do anything diplomatically to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression, but that he does know what it’ll take: sanctions.

“Only by losing money will [Putin] be unable to grow his army or increase military spending. That will lead to internal problems. That is a fact. To achieve this, sanctions must be imposed,” Zelenskyy said in an exclusive interview with Newsmax foreign correspondent Shelby Wilder that aired Friday.

Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have been crafting bipartisan legislation that would sanction key Russian officials as well as penalize countries that do business with Moscow. However, it was reported last week that the White House has been lobbying behind the scenes to temper the measure.

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