Timeline emerges for US Senate vote on new Russia sanctions bill

Democrats in the US Senate have signalled to their Republican colleagues that next week they are willing to vote on the Russia sanctions package, which includes President Trump's last-minute demand to add Iran sanctions to the bill.

Source: US digital news outlet Axios, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter, as reported by European Pravda

Details: A memorial ceremony at the Capitol on Tuesday in honour of Senator Lindsey Graham is expected to serve as an emotional backdrop for the consideration of the bill he was trying to bring to completion in the final days of his life.

The bill, which has more than 60 co-sponsors, has been revised twice since Graham's sudden death on 11 July.

"I'm optimistic we'll be able to move forward soon," said Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

As part of the work on the bill, senators reduced the overall secondary tariff rate from 500% to 100% and narrowed its scope, allowing Trump to impose tariffs on no more than five countries. These are punitive tariffs for countries that import Russian energy resources.

The five largest importers of Russian oil are currently China, India, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan. The top gas importers are China, France, Japan, Hungary and Belgium, according to aides involved in drafting the text.

Senators also factored in Trump's recent comments by including non-controversial sanctions on Iran that were set to expire at the end of the year.

Republican Majority Leader John Thune said on 23 July that his caucus has no objections to the Iran-related additions.

Some Democrats oppose the idea of giving Trump another tool for imposing tariffs. They may try to slow the bill's consideration but do not have enough votes to derail its adoption.

Thune and Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer still need to reach agreement on the timeline for the bill's consideration.

Background: Details of the updated version of the bill have been revealed in the Senate.

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