The United States Senate voted 86 to 11 on Friday to pass a major new sanctions package targeting Russian oil and gas imports. The legislation imposes 500 percent tariffs on oil and natural gas imported from Russia, alongside 100 percent tariffs on the top five countries that import Russian energy, including China and India.
The House of Representatives must also approve the measure before it can become law. However, the vote in the House will be delayed until at least early September due to the congressional summer recess.
Republican Senator Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a speech before the vote that the law brings the nation closer to the end of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Risch added that the sanctions will have a decisive effect beyond what can be achieved on the battlefield by cutting off the money stream that fuels the war machine of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Sanctions targets and shadow fleet
In addition to energy tariffs, the legislation outlines direct sanctions against Vladimir Putin and other high-ranking Russian officials. For the first time, the United States is also targeting Russia's shadow fleet, which consists of ships used by Moscow to circumvent Western embargoes implemented after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The bill is named in honor of Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator who died suddenly on July 11 after working to enact tighter penalties against Moscow. On the day before his death, Graham announced that he and a bipartisan group of colleagues had reached an agreement with the White House on new hydrocarbon sanctions, after President Donald Trump had previously blocked their implementation.
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen said that Vladimir Putin understands only strength and responds only to pressure. Shaheen noted that the bill offers the best opportunity to weaken the Russian war machine and compel Putin to negotiate.
Democratic concerns and Russian response
Some Democrats expressed concern over the broad tariff authority granted to Donald Trump under the new legislation. Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock stated that Special Trade Representative Jamieson Greer ultimately reassured lawmakers that tariffs on the five partner countries importing Russian fuel would be lifted for each country as soon as it stops buying Russian energy.
The Russian Embassy in the United States condemned the legislation before its passage. Russian diplomats stated that imposing sanctions on Russia and its trading partners would prove counterproductive for the United States, citing the war in Iran, a looming energy crisis, rising fuel costs, and the upcoming American midterm elections.
