A bipartisan Russia sanctions package that has spent more than a year winding its way through Congress is finally headed for a Senate vote as early as next week — but only after President Trump added an 11th-hour demand that Iran be included in the bill.
The legislation, known as the Sanctioning Russia Act, would give the president authority to impose sweeping tariffs and sanctions on countries that continue to purchase Russian oil and natural gas. With 85 Senate co-sponsors — well above the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster — it has the numbers to pass.
The bill’s chief architects were the late Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. Graham, who died suddenly earlier this month, had returned from Ukraine shortly before his death and secured White House support for the revised package. “This bill has been negotiated over almost two years,” Blumenthal said, adding that he believed “we have the votes.”
The core mechanism is straightforward: the US would impose penalties on third-party countries that buy Russian energy, targeting the financial foundation of Moscow’s war in Ukraine. The numbers driving the bill are stark. Russia earned roughly $58 billion from oil and petroleum product exports to China and India in the first half of 2026 alone, according to Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Ukraine’s sanctions policy commissioner.
China and India are the principal targets. India committed to reducing its Russian oil purchases as part of a February 2026 trade framework that cut US tariffs on Indian goods from 50 percent to 18 percent, but Indian refiners have not fully exited Russian crude. For China, the calculus is different — Beijing has shown no willingness to reduce Russian energy imports.
Trump’s demand to add Iran sanctions to the package came late in the process. Democrats have indicated they are prepared to accommodate him, but the addition could reopen negotiations that took months to resolve. The revised bill already grants the president waiver authority — a compromise to address White House concerns about executive flexibility — while requiring the administration to notify Congress and justify any sanctions suspensions.
The bill has taken on additional political significance following Graham’s death. Both parties have framed passage as a tribute to his legacy. “He was absolutely ecstatic,” Blumenthal said of their final conversation. “I’ve never heard him quite as exuberant.”
Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire described the legislation in practical terms: “If the Kremlin is able to fund its war machine through the sale of oil and gas, it’s going to be able to keep going. It’s going to stop those purchases.”
The House has a companion bill with 151 co-sponsors, but the two chambers would need to reconcile any differences in conference.
The White House has not said whether it will sign the version with Iran additions, but Graham confirmed before his death that the administration was on board. If the Senate passes the bill next week, it would represent the most significant legislative action targeting Russia’s war economy since the invasion of Ukraine began.
Reviewed by George