US senators want to pass Graham's Russia sanctions bill without Trump's amendments

A bipartisan group of US senators has called for a vote as soon as possible on a bill introducing new sanctions against Russia, which the late Senator Lindsey Graham worked on for more than two years, rejecting additional provisions previously suggested by US President Donald Trump.

Source: US senators speaking at a joint press conference on 14 July, as quoted by Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne

Details: The senators said the bill had been agreed with the White House, enjoys broad bipartisan support and does not require further revision. The document is the result of nearly two years of negotiations and contains complex technical sanctions mechanisms, making it inappropriate to reopen it for new amendments.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson also backed the bill.

Quote from Johnson: "We've long supported a Russia sanctions bill and the vast majority of the Republicans do. [...]

Senate Republicans in the White House have come up with a formula that they think will work and we're happy to receive and process that."

Details: The lawmakers were responding to Trump's earlier suggestion that sanctions related to Iran or Hezbollah could be added to the bill. Co-author of the legislation, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, said the US president supports the bill, but that it should be passed in its current form.

Quote from Blumenthal: "With all due respect to the president, he has approved this bill, and we should move forward with this bill rather than opening it, in my view, to other potential targets. If there are other bills that he wants to propose, we'll consider them."

Details: Blumenthal said the bill should serve as a response to Russia's attacks on Ukraine's civilian population and any delay would mean more victims.

The senators also expressed confidence that the bill would be passed before the Senate's August recess. They said Senate Majority Leader John Thune is prepared to bring it to a vote as soon as there is confirmation that enough senators support it. In the authors' view, that support is already in place.

The bill provides for tough sanctions against Russia, its companies, oligarchs and intermediaries as well as secondary sanctions and tariffs targeting the largest buyers of Russian oil and gas. According to the senators, negotiations with the White House significantly narrowed its scope. While the original version would have allowed tariffs on more than 60 countries, the current draft focuses only on the five largest importers of Russian oil and the five largest importers of Russian natural gas, some of which overlap. The bill also introduces more narrowly defined sanctions exemptions and expands the powers of the US Trade Representative to determine specific tariff rates.

In addition, the authors said the latest version of the bill includes, for the first time, a separate section targeting Russia's so-called shadow fleet — the network of tankers Moscow uses to circumvent international sanctions and export oil. Blumenthal said the revised text contains effective and targeted tools to restrict the fleet's operations, making it more difficult for Russia to generate revenue from energy exports.

The senators also said that passing the bill would serve as a tribute to Lindsey Graham, who was one of the leading advocates of increasing sanctions pressure on Russia and had finalised the legislation with the Trump administration shortly before his death.

Previously: US President Donald Trump said he is open to introducing additional sanctions against Russia proposed by the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.

Background:

• CNN said earlier that Trump is ready to support the adoption of a bipartisan bill imposing sanctions on Russia, which was introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham.
• Shortly before his sudden death, Graham announced that an agreement had been reached with the White House on the final version of the Russia sanctions bill.
• The senator died on the day he returned from a visit to Ukraine, and he had been due to give an interview the following morning.
• Graham was a co-author of the Russia sanctions bill, whose passage had been delayed since last year. As far back as mid-November, the senator said that Trump had given Congress the green light to pass the long-stalled Russia sanctions legislation.

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