US Senate unveils revised Russia sanctions bill to cement Lindsey Graham’s legacy, targets top buyers of Russian energy

WASHINGTON: A bipartisan group of more than 60 US senators on Thursday (local time) introduced revised legislation to impose sweeping sanctions on Russia and its supporters, replacing the earlier proposal for blanket tariffs with targeted measures aimed at the world’s largest buyers of Russian energy. The bill, introduced days after Senator Lindsey Graham’s death, reflects changes agreed with the White House before his passing.

The ‘Senator Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026’ was introduced by Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Richard Blumenthal and Darline Graham to hold major purchases of Russian oil and gas accountable for supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine.

According to the sponsors’ official press release, Lindsey Graham met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week and secured White House agreement on the revised text before his death. Graham and Blumenthal had first introduced the sanctions legislation in April 2025.

The bill’s sponsors said the revised text “refines tariff authority from a blanket 500 per cent tariff to tariffs on the top five purchasers of Russian crude oil and natural gas of upto 100 per cent, ” while creating an exception for countries importing less than 15 per cent of Russia’s natural gas exports that are taking significant steps to reduce those imports.

This legislation is titled the “Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026.” https://t.co/ITLkkAU1mL pic.twitter.com/i5amizzflH

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The overview of the key changes said that the revised legislation also “adds new authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on the top five countries facilitating Russian oil sanctions evasion,” “updates the waiver to require a national interest certification consistent with other sanctions laws,” “incorporates the bipartisan SHADOW Fleet Sanctions Act targeting Russia’s sanctions-evasion fleet,” and ” includes the bipartisan STOP Russia-China Act targeting Chinese support for Russia’s defense industrial base.”

The legislation overview said that, ‘The bill imposes mandatory sanctions on Vladimir Putin, senior Russian political and military leaders, oligarchs, state-owned enterprises, and foreign companies supporting Russia’s defense industrial base. It sanctions Russian financial institutions, including the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Sberbank, and Gazprombank. It also sanctions Russia’s largest state energy projects–including Yamal LNG, Arctic LNG 1, 2, and 3, and future Russian Arctic energy projects–along with their controlling owners and executives.”

It added, “The bill would impose sanctions on the Russian Shadow Fleet and any foreign person or vessel that is used by the government for sanctions evasion.”

“The legislation imposes tariffs on imports from countries that are the world’s top 5 purchasers of Russian crude oil or natural gas or are among the top 5 facilitators of Russian oil sanctions evasion. The bill exempts countries whose Russian natural gas imports account for less than 15 per cent of Russia’s total natural gas exports and that are taking significant steps to reduce those imports. The bill calls for USTR to reassess the top 5 purchasers every 180 days and can adjust tariff rates based on changes in purchasing behaviour,” it said.

The overview also said that, “The bill contains a waiver, consistent with other mandatory sanctions bills, allowing the President to waive sanctions, restrictions, or duties upon a justification and certification to Congress that the waiver is in the national interest of the United States.”

“Russia is losing ground, it is suffering tens of thousands of casualties each month, and Ukraine continues to bring the consequences of the war to the Kremlin’s doorstep through its deep strike campaign,” Senator Jeanne Shaheen said. “This legislation would level tough new sanctions on Russia and choke off key export markets for the energy it sells to fund its war machine.”

Senator Richard Blumenthal said, “When Senator Graham and I last spoke, he was absolutely exultant, calling from Kyiv with news that President Trump would support this bill to impose scorching tariffs and sanctions on purchasers of Russian oil and stop them from fueling Putin’s war machine.”

“Passing this legislation right now would be a fitting tribute to Senator Graham’s fierce support for Ukraine’s freedom,” he added.

Senator Darline Graham said, “Until the very day he passed, Lindsey remained focused on passing the Russia sanctions bill. Passing this legislation would honor my brother’s steadfast commitment to our national security and it would provide President Trump with additional leverage to bring this war to an end.” (ANI)