Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Congress to support Cruz's sanctions bill earlier this week, thanking him and Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who cut the sanctions vote-for-diplomats deal, "for agreeing to put to a stop to Russia's Nord Stream 2." The Democratic proposal unveiled by Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., who chairs the foreign relations committee, would "impose crippling sanctions on the Russian banking sector and senior military and government officials if President Putin escalates hostile action in or against Ukraine." The Republican's Senate campaign committee chided Democrats for resisting Cruz's bill, calling the Menendez bill mere "cover for Democrats too afraid to take bold action against the pipeline that could cause major geopolitical problems."