US Senator Graham claims White House backing for Russia sanctions bill
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U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said on July 10 that he had reached an agreement with the White House on a Russia sanctions bill, potentially clearing the way for the long-stalled measure to advance.
"We've reached an agreement with the White House on a version of the Russia sanctions bill that they will support," Graham told reporters during a visit to Kyiv.
The sanctions package, spearheaded by Graham, a Republican, and Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, "would give tools to President (Donald) Trump to help end this war," the lawmaker said.
It would also "create tools to punish those countries that prop up (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, that make money off this war," Graham added, saying he and Blumenthal will soon discuss moving the package forward with Democratic and Republican Congressional leaders.
The bipartisan bill would enable the White House to impose tariffs and sanctions on countries buying cheap Russian oil and gas, thereby undermining Moscow's wartime budget revenues.
Graham has been pushing the bill since last year but has struggled to gain traction amid a lukewarm response from the Trump White House.
While the U.S. lawmaker repeatedly claimed to have secured Trump's backing in the past, the administration seemingly walked back its support as the president's approach to Russia shifted between conciliatory and confrontational.
The initially proposed bill sought to impose 500% tariffs on imports from countries purchasing Russian oil, gas, uranium, and other products, though the details of the latest version remain unclear.
The announcement comes shortly after Trump agreed to grant Ukraine a license to produce Patriot missiles, a major boon in Kyiv's efforts to counter Russian ballistic missile attacks.
