Royce and senior members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee announced plans late Monday for a loan package and possible sanctions against unnamed Russian officials. The Senate panel is expected to formally debate the package during a markup next week.
Sen. Christopher Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate panel who visited Ukraine in December to meet with opposition figures, said that a proposal combining aid to Ukraine with sanctions against Russian officials "will enjoy broad Democratic and Republican support on the committee."
Murphy said world powers should be working to assemble a major economic aid package of $15 billion to $20 billion for the new Ukrainian government, with most of the support coming through the International Monetary Fund. Sanctions should be reach across as much of Russian society as possible, he said.
"We need to send a clear message to every facet of Russian society that if you take part in this illegal extraterritorial activity, your entire country will suffer consequences," Murphy said, adding later: "Ultimately, I'm not sure that Russia will pay attention if we simply provide visa sanctions on a handful of government officials that have ordered this march on Ukraine."