The bill was brought forth by Republican Dave McCormick, Democrat Elizabeth Warren, Democrat Chris Coons, and Republican Jon Husted. If passed, it would require U.S. President Donald Trump to sanction any purchasers, transporters, or facilitators of Russian oil products within 90 days.
The sanctions would effectively bar any dealers in Russian oil from the U.S. financial system.
“Any nation or entity that buys Russian oil is actively funding Russia’s aggression in Ukraine,” Senator McCormick said in a press release.
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin has demonstrated he is unserious about bringing this war against Ukraine to a close, and continuing to fuel the war machine should carry consequences.”
Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.S., Olha Stefanishyna, praised the legislation on social media and stated that the measure indicates “strong bipartisan support for further economic pressure on the aggressor.”
The proposed legislation allows for limited exceptions to the sanctions, including the possible option to exempt purchasers from penalties if they pay a fee into an account designated for Ukraine for every barrel of Russian oil they buy.
The new bill arrives as the White House is once again pressing for negotiated settlement to end Russia’s war against Ukraine. Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, held two rounds of talks in Berlin Dec. 14-15 with a Ukrainian team led by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
While Trump has made winning a peace deal in Ukraine a priority of his administration, he has been slow to impose economic sanctions against Russia. In October 2025, Trump lodged the first sanctions against Russia of his term, targeting the oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil.
The measures froze the firms’ U.S.-based assets and threatened secondary penalties for foreign entities engaging with them, but Washington has extended a waiver that lets Lukoil-branded gas stations abroad stay in business through late April 2026.
Another bipartisan sanctions bill, separate from the DROP Act, was heavily edited at the administration’s request, giving Trump broad powers to waive penalties. The sanctions bill, sponsored by Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal, has lagged in Congress.
