US passes sanctions bill targeting Russia

The US House of Representatives has passed a sweeping sanctions and tariff bill intended to increase economic pressure on Russia.

US President Donald Trump will sign the legislation into law nearly one-and-a-half years after the late Senator Lindsey Graham introduced it.

The bill, now called the 'Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026' to honour the South Carolina Republican, passed the Senate last month.

The House passed voted 262 to 159 in favour, as dozens of Democrats broke with party leaders to join the majority of Republicans.

The new measures target Russia's energy and defence industries, as well as its ‘shadow fleet’ of tankers that evade existing sanctions.

The bill faced opposition as it also authorises President Trump to impose stiff tariffs on China, India and other countries to reduce their dependence on Russian oil and gas, as well as to extend sanctions on Iran.

Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk thanked the US Congress for the support.

"The passage... is a concrete step toward increasing pressure on Russia, its war machine, and those helping to finance its aggression against Ukraine," he said on social media.

Mr Graham and dozens of other senators introduced the bill in April 2025.

It ‌took Mr Trump until July 2026, days before Graham's sudden death ⁠on 11 July, to allow Republican leaders in Congress to schedule a vote.

Since starting his second term in January 2025, Mr Trump has generally favoured keeping control over tariffs and sanctions, a central tool of his foreign policy, rather than working with Congress on legislation.

The Graham act passed the Senate last month by 86-11 with strong bipartisan support, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with lawmakers to urge its passage and took the unusual step of watching an early procedural vote from a seat ‌in the chamber.

Zelensky Urges passage as war drags on

Mr Zelensky reiterated his support for the legislation in an address this week, saying it is "important that it becomes law. I thank everyone around the world who supports this approach and who knows that strength works".

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the two sides have since waged the deadliest war in Europe since World War Two.

Moscow and Ukraine have traded ⁠strikes in recent months on infrastructure and other economic targets, aimed at hampering each other's war effort and damaging morale.

On Wednesday, Russian drones struck a passenger bus and a train ‌in southern Ukraine, killing five people.

"Limiting Russia's revenues, especially from energy exports, is critical to reducing its ability to finance the war. The stronger ⁠the pressure, the closer ‌we get to a just and lasting peace," Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said on X.

The bill faced opposition from House Democrats, who said it gives Mr Trump too many new tariff powers that he could use against US allies.

They say Mr Trump already has the authority he needs to impose sanctions on Russia, but has chosen not to do so.

They also say the bill makes it too easy for the president not to impose sanctions by declaring that ⁠doing so is not in the national interest.