Bipartisan US senators unveil revised Russia sanctions bill Lindsey Graham championed before his death

A final compromise with the White House

Senator Lindsey Graham spent his last days securing an agreement with President Donald Trump on Russia sanctions legislation. Hours after returning from Kyiv on Friday, Graham announced he and colleagues had reached a deal with the administration on a version they would support. The senator died late Saturday, before the revised bill could be formally unveiled.

I am pleased to announce that about 30 minutes ago we reached an agreement with the White House on a version of the Russia sanctions bill that they will support.

The bill, introduced on Tuesday by Senator Richard Blumenthal and others, carries 26 co-sponsors from both parties, with aides expecting more and expressing confidence in its path forward.

What the revised bill does

The new measure targets countries that continue purchasing Russian energy, but with key concessions compared to the original April 2025 version. The blanket 500% tariff on all third-party buyers of Russian oil and gas has been reduced to a maximum of 100%, applied only to the five largest purchasers. A 500% tariff on direct Russian imports to the US would take effect 30 days after enactment.

According to Senate aides, the top five buyers of Russian crude are China, India, Slovakia, Hungary, and Azerbaijan. For Russian natural gas, the top importers are China, France, Japan, Hungary, and Belgium.

Our European allies are not affected here.

The bill includes an exception for countries importing less than 15% of Russia's natural gas exports and taking significant steps to reduce those purchases, which could shield Japan, France, Hungary, and Belgium. A new national security waiver allows the president to suspend sanctions when deemed in the US interest.

Graham's legacy and Senate momentum

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called on Majority Leader John Thune to bring the bill to the floor immediately, saying it would pass overwhelmingly. Thune, speaking on CNN, said he was hopeful a path forward could be found.

It would certainly be an incredible legacy for him if, in fact, we can find a path forward. It'll take Democrats and Republicans here in the Senate to do that.

Blumenthal said he would support naming the legislation after Graham, calling it part of his legacy. Trump, asked about the bill, said it was "in honour of Lindsey" and that Graham wanted it more than anything else.

Broader sanctions and European exemptions

Beyond tariffs, the legislation includes comprehensive sanctions against wide swaths of the Russian economy, including the energy sector, financial sector, arms industry, oligarchs, businesspeople, and President Vladimir Putin himself, Blumenthal told reporters at a press conference.

The bill's narrower application and reduced rates addressed two earlier concerns. Lawmakers worried the original version could harm allied economies that have also assisted Ukraine. The White House sought adequate flexibility for the president to waive sanctions when in the national interest. Both issues were addressed in the revised draft.

The Ukraine connection

Graham's final trip to Kyiv came days after Trump's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the NATO summit in Ankara. There, Trump agreed to grant Ukraine a license to build Patriot air defence missiles, which Zelensky said would eliminate one of Russia's last advantages, its air superiority. The sanctions bill, combined with Patriot licensing and Trump's support for Ukrainian deep strikes into Russian territory, represented a series of policy shifts Graham helped secure before his death.