The US Senate has advanced a bipartisan bill that would impose tougher sanctions on Russia and allow President Donald Trump to levy tariffs of up to 100 percent on goods from major buyers of Russian oil and gas, including China and India.
The measure, which also includes new penalties against Iran, passed a key Senate vote 86-12, comfortably crossing the 60-vote threshold needed to move forward. Nearly all Republicans and a majority of Democrats backed the bill.
The Senate action came hours after lawmakers paid tribute to the late Senator Lindsey Graham, who had spent more than a year building bipartisan support for the legislation. It also followed a meeting between senators and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was in Washington to honor Graham, a strong critic of Russian aggression.
What the bill says
The legislation would impose sanctions on Russian officials, oligarchs, financial institutions and vessels in the so-called “shadow fleet” that Moscow uses to bypass restrictions on its oil exports.
It would also give Trump the authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on goods from the world's five biggest buyers of Russian oil or natural gas, including China and India.
However, the bill includes exemptions for countries that get less than 15 percent of their natural gas from Russia and are taking steps to reduce their dependence on Russian energy.
At Trump's request, the revised legislation also extends sanctions targeting Iran's energy and weapons sectors.
The bill is named after Graham, who played a key role in securing support for the measure and reached an agreement with the White House on a revised version shortly before his death earlier this month.
Supporters say the legislation would cut Russia's energy revenues and limit President Vladimir Putin's ability to finance the war in Ukraine, which has entered its fifth year.
“There is no greater way to honor Senator Graham's legacy than to move forward with this bipartisan agreement,” six Republican and Democratic senators said in a joint statement.
While there is broad support in Congress for imposing tougher penalties on Russia, some Democrats have expressed concerns that the tariff provisions could give Trump too much power.
They also warned that the tariffs could increase import costs for US consumers and potentially hurt European allies.
The legislation must still clear the House of Representatives before it can be sent to Trump for his signature. The House has already left Washington for its summer recess and is unlikely to take up the bill before September.
Source: NDTV