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The Trump administration will support a draft bill that would impose heavy financial penalties on purchasers of Russian oil, adding to economic pressure on Moscow, all in an effort to bring Russia’s four-year war on Ukraine to a close, sources told CBS News.
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut told CBS News that the Trump White House has approved the latest draft of a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill.
A Ukrainian official told CBS News that on Friday, Graham informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that it has the support of the White House.
White House spokespeople didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Both senators emphasized that Ukraine is turning the tide on the battlefield, and Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to be brought to the table. Graham indicated to CBS News that Putin’s constant attacks are a factor in Mr. Trump’s thinking, and the president has found Ukraine’s recent success on the battlefield to be persuasive.
The bipartisan bill aims to increase economic pressure on Russia. It is not clear how soon the tariffs would go into effect after the legislation is signed into law.
It would allow high tariffs to be imposed on countries that continue to buy Russian oil and natural gas. India and China are the two biggest buyers of Russian oil.
Blumenthal did not yet have a vote count, but he believes there will be Democratic support for the bill. The Connecticut senator also credited timing: Recent declines in the price of oil since the cooling off of the war with Iran are making this a more palatable decision.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota had previously told the senators that he’d move the bill when they had the votes. The Senate returns to Washington on Monday.
Blumenthal said that the movement on sanctions was not the only big win for Ukraine. He also said that Zelenskyy adroitly handled his meetings with Mr. Trump at the NATO summit this week, both securing the long-sought license to produce Patriot interceptors and persuading Trump to sign off on purchases of Ukrainian drones for U.S. usage. Zelenskyy had made a direct request for the licenses from Mr. Trump during an appearance on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” in May.
Blumenthal, Graham, Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, and GOP Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi hailed the agreement and said they expect to roll out the legislation “very soon.”
“As Russia intensifies its slaughter of civilians, it is imperative that the legislative and executive branches work together to create tools to exact a heavy price on those who buy Russian oil and natural gas, fueling the Putin war machine,” the senators said.
Zelenskyy has been notified of the president’s approval of the tariff plan, one of the sources said. The Ukrainian president met with Graham in Kyiv Friday and said in a post on X that “Lindsey briefed me on the work underway in Congress on the relevant bill.”