"It is a moment of extreme urgency": US senator urges House to approve Russia sanctions bill
US Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut has urged the House of Representatives to support a Senate-passed bill imposing sanctions on Russia, describing the situation in the war in Ukraine as a "moment of extreme urgency".
Source: Blumenthal in an interview with CBS News
Quote: "It is a moment of extreme urgency, for the reason that Putin may try to escalate, but also because Putin is on his heels economically.
And this kind of sanctions bill, throttling the flow of revenue to his war machine could undercut completely his ability to wage this brutal, murderous war."
Details: The US Senate passed the bill by a wide bipartisan majority before breaking for its August recess. The initiative emerged after the sudden death of Senator Lindsey Graham, who had long advocated the measures alongside Blumenthal. The bill has now moved to the House of Representatives, which is due to return to work this week after a five-week recess. However, its prospects in the lower chamber remain uncertain.
The bill, known as the The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, would allow the president to impose tariffs of up to 100% on the five largest importers of Russian oil or natural gas, except for countries that import less than 15% of their natural gas from Russia while also taking steps to reduce those imports. Some Democrats in the House, however, have raised concerns about giving the president additional powers.
Asked about possible opposition from Democrats, Blumenthal defended the bill, saying it was the "result of painstaking, sometimes painful, negotiations" with the US Trade Representative, the White House and lawmakers from both parties.
"It passed the Senate 86 to 11 – not many measures doing that kind of successful passage these days," Blumenthal said.
He highlighted the additional powers the bill would give the president to "impose scorching sanctions on the oligarchs" and financial institutions, as well as measures to "crack down on the shadow fleet" and the power to impose tariffs, "narrowly constrained" to the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas.
Blumenthal said the sanctions bill could weaken Russian leader Vladimir Putin's position.
Quote: "His economy is on the verge of major crisis.
He has a deficit looming of US$125 billion, 5% of his GDP, an interest rate of 14% on his national debt."
Details: Blumenthal expressed great hope that the sanctions bill would receive enough support from Democrats to pass the House. He added that during his visit to Ukraine last week, he urged President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet with members of Congress, as the Ukrainian leader had done in the Senate.
Previously: Zelenskyy met with US senators from both parties – Richard Blumenthal and James Lankford – in Kyiv on 23 August.
Read also: This time could be different for Russia sanctions
Background: The US imposed sanctions on a number of entities within the Russian Defence Ministry as well as two Russian companies and five Russian nationals at the beginning of August.
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