The US Senate has passed a sweeping economic sanctions package targeting Russia's energy revenues as the conflict in Ukraine continues. The bill, named the “Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026,” was approved by an overwhelming 86–11 vote on August 8.
Under the bill, the US would impose a 100% tariff on major countries that import Russian oil and gas. It also targets covert shipping networks used to evade Western embargoes.
Speaking before the vote, Republican Senator Jim Risch, the senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, argued that the measure could “finally bring Russia to the negotiating table and end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.” He stressed: “It will have a decisive impact that goes far beyond what can be achieved on the battlefield. It will cut off the cash flow that fuels Putin's war machine.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the move, emphasizing that “truly strong pressure and sanctions from the US on Russia are what will help the most” to end “Russia's insane war against our independence and our people.” On social media platform X, Zelenskyy expressed gratitude for the continued support “from both parties and the entire American people.”
The bill is named after Senator Lindsey Graham, who died on July 11 and had been a vocal advocate for new sanctions on Moscow. A day before his death, Graham and a bipartisan group of senators announced they had secured White House approval to pass new sanctions on Russian hydrocarbons, which had previously been blocked by President Donald Trump.
Reacting to the vote, Darline Graham Nordone, Senator Graham's sister and his appointed successor, said the bill “hits Putin where it hurts.” Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, also declared that the legislation sends “a clear, bipartisan message to Vladimir Putin in the only language he understands: pressure.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also welcomed the bill's passage, writing on X: “Together, let’s drain Russia’s means to continue a war it cannot win.”
However, some House members have expressed concerns about the bill, suggesting it may face a tougher path in the lower chamber. Democratic Representatives Gregory Meeks and Don Beyer argued that the new tariff authority could be used by President Trump without adequate oversight, calling the version passed on August 8 “unacceptable.”
Earlier, the Russian Embassy in Washington condemned the bill. In a statement last month, Moscow pointed to energy constraints resulting from the US and Israeli war on Iran, and warned that “with an impending energy crisis and rising gas prices ahead of the midterm elections, sanctioning Russia and its trading partners… would be extremely counterproductive for the United States.”
