Bipartisan senators announced Friday that they have reached an agreement with the Trump administration to move forward with an updated Russia sanctions package.
The package would allow President Donald Trump to place heavy tariffs on imports from nations that import Russian oil, uranium and natural gas, with possible exceptions for countries that contribute to the Ukrainian war effort.
Sen. Lindsey Graham and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, joined by Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker and Senate Foreign Relations Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen, released a statement saying, "We are proud to announce that we have reached an agreement with the Trump Administration to move our updated Russia sanctions legislation forward. We are very pleased with this significant progress and expect to roll out the legislation very soon."
Graham and Blumenthal have long had vast bipartisan support for Russia sanctions, including a package with over 80 Senate cosponsors, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said the Senate will follow the White House’s lead and will not bring the sanctions bill to the floor until they are certain of the administration’s backing.
Sen. Graham visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Friday; "Right now, it is important to strengthen our long-range sanction pressure on Russia with new sanction steps from our partners. Lindsey informed me about the work in Congress on the relevant bill," Zelensky said in a social media post after the meeting.
The calendar is also a factor: the Senate is facing the annual defense policy package, another government funding deadline and only a handful of weeks in session between now and the midterm elections.
It remains unclear if President Donald Trump will directly back the bill’s passage, the announcement said.
The announcement of the deal came on the heels of an announcement by President Trump allowing Ukraine to build Patriot defense missile batteries.