US Senators Reach Deal With Trump Administration To Advance Russia Sanctions Bill

A bipartisan group of US senators said Friday it had reached an agreement with the Trump administration to advance updated legislation targeting Russia and countries that purchase its energy exports.

Republicans Lindsey Graham and Roger Wicker and Democrats Richard Blumenthal and Jeanne Shaheen said the revised legislation would be unveiled “very soon.”

“As Russia intensifies its slaughter of civilians, it is imperative that the legislative and executive branches work together to create tools to exact a heavy price on those who buy Russian oil and natural gas, fueling the Putin war machine,” the senators said.

The lawmakers did not disclose the terms of the agreement or release the updated text. Graham, speaking in Kyiv after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said the White House would support the revised version and predicted that it would become law.

The measure is expected to impose sanctions on countries doing business with Russia, including buyers of its energy exports, it is understood.

The legislation has been under negotiation for months. Trump agreed in January to allow the bill to advance, but the White House had sought language ensuring that the president retained final authority over whether and how the sanctions would be imposed.

The announcement came days after Trump met Zelensky at the NATO summit in Ankara and said the US would grant Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors. Trump had said after an earlier meeting with Zelensky in June that sanctions on Russian oil could return “soon.”