U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, a Trump ally, is pushing legislation that would target Russia with substantial new sanctions.

"I was with Putin and I told him, ‘Vladimir, if you do it, we’re going to bomb the s--- out of Moscow,’" Trump revealed, according to an audio recording, also shared with CNN.

A Russian drone barrage targeted the center of Kharkiv on Friday, injuring nine people and damaging a maternity hospital in Ukraine’s second-largest city, officials said.

The increase comes as President Trump has expressed frustration at Russian President Vladimir Putin's seeming unwillingness to enter talks to end the war.

FBI Director Kash Patel pledged at his confirmation hearing that the bureau would not look backward, but the Trump administration's fresh scrutiny of the Russia investigation has brought back into focus a years-old inquiry that continues to infuriate the Republican president.