“Following a very productive meeting with President Trump today, where a variety of issues were discussed, he approved the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that I have been working on for months with Senator Blumenthal and many others,” he wrote.
The senator emphasized that Ukraine is making concessions for the sake of peace, and the illegitimate Russian President Vladimir “Putin does nothing but continue to kill innocents.”
“This bill would allow President Trump to punish countries that buy cheap Russian oil that fuels Putin's war machine,” Graham said.
He clarified that we are talking about countries such as China, India and Brazil, which buy cheap Russian oil, the proceeds from the sale of which go to finance “Putin’s bloodbath.”
Senator Graham said he hopes the bill will be passed “as early as next week.”
After a very productive meeting today with President Trump on a variety of issues, he greenlit the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that I have been working on for months with Senator Blumenthal and many others.
This will be well-timed, as Ukraine is making concessions for peace…
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 7, 2026
Unnamed White House officials confirmed CNN And Politicothat Trump supported the bill that Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal were preparing.
The document allegedly enjoys the support of more than 80 senators (out of 100).
Context
March 9, 2025 on Fox News Graham stated that the Russian Federation will face “hellish” sanctions (sanction the hell out of them) if it does not stop the war in Ukraine. On May 1, he announced that a draft of “super-powerful” sanctions against the Russian Federation had been submitted to the US Senate. Then, according to the congressman, 72 senators supported him, later their number increased to 85.
On May 18, in an interview with CBC News, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted that with the support of more than 80 votes, the US Senate would be able to introduce restrictions without the consent of the White House.
On October 22, the US Treasury imposed sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil, explaining this by that Putin refuses to end the war in Ukraine. Trump expressed hope that this will encourage Putin for negotiations. Since then, there has been no breakthrough in negotiations.
