Senate Republicans have talked for months about voting on a strong Russia sanctions bill sponsored by Graham and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) that would impose major sanctions on countries that buy Russian uranium and petroleum products.
“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 Sen. Blumenthal and many others,” Graham said in a statement released Wednesday evening.
“This will be well-timed, as Ukraine is making concessions for peace and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent,” Graham added.
“This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries who buy cheap Russian oil fueling Putin’s war machine.”
The South Carolina senator made the announcement the same day Russia deployed a submarine to deter the U.S. Coast Guard from seizing a tanker flying the Russian flag that attempted to evade a U.S. blockade of Venezuelan oil exports.
The tanker was initially flying under the flags of Comoros and Guyana before the Coast Guard closed in on its pursuit of the vessel, which had been headed toward Venezuela before the U.S. interdiction attempt.
The Graham-Blumenthal sanctions bill would authorize the president to increase tariffs on countries that knowingly purchase Russian oil or uranium to 500 percent.
It would also ban U.S. exports of energy products to Russia and prohibit investments in Russian energy.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) had talked about moving the sanctions legislation before the August recess, but it stalled amid wavering support from Trump while he was attempting to negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.
A companion House measure sponsored Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) has more than 150 co-sponsors.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said over the summer that he wanted to wait to move the House version of the Russia sanctions bill until after a 50-day deadline set by the White House for Russia-Ukraine peace talks.