Vladimir Putin suffered a major setback after bipartisan U.S. senators moved to advance a sweeping anti-Russia sanctions bill as his friendship with Donald Trump unravels.
In an overwhelming 86-12 vote, senators cleared the way for the sanctions bill, a measure championed by Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who died suddenly on July 11 at age 71. Graham had spent more than a year relentlessly pushing for tougher sanctions on Moscow and had just returned from Kyiv when he suffered a fatal aortic dissection.
The sanctions bill would allow the Trump administration to slap tariffs on the top five global purchasers of oil or natural gas from Russia. Exceptions would be made for countries that import less than 15 percent of their natural gas from Russia and are actively working to wean themselves off Russian energy.
It comes at a brutal time for Putin. Russia is battling a deepening fuel crisis as Ukrainian drones hit its refineries, pipelines and tankers, while the dictator has suffered his sharpest weekly drop in approval ratings since launching his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. As the war grinds on and Putin refuses to entertain even a ceasefire, his once-warm relationship with Trump appears to be turning frosty, with the U.S. president turning instead to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The procedural vote—the bill still faces multiple hurdles before it can become law—came hours after Graham’s funeral, which Zelensky flew in to attend. The Ukrainian leader met with senators and Trump himself, who gushed on Truth Social that it was a “great honor” to see him. “The meeting went very well!” he said.
“It was an honor to be present as the votes were counted,” Zelensky wrote in a post on X. “This is the first step toward implementing Lindsey’s plans, and certainly a step toward peace.”
Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota said Zelensky told the senators that “Putin would think a little bit more about trying to negotiate a settlement if the sanctions were in place and actually creating more irritation,” the Associated Press reported.
New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, said the legislation would “send Putin a bipartisan message in a language he understands,” adding: “This is our best opportunity to support Ukraine. We are defending not just their country but the rest of Europe from an increasingly aggressive Russia.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.
Neither Putin nor the Kremlin has publicly responded to the Senate’s vote. The legislation is likely to humiliate the Russian leader as Ukraine steps up its drone campaign against strategic targets in Russia, including oil refineries deep into Russian territory.
Oil exports and the broader energy sector account for roughly 30 percent of Russia’s budget revenues and remain critical to financing the war in Ukraine.
