The Republican majority leader in the US Senate, John Thune, hopes that the bill to impose sanctions against Russia and those who help it will be passed by August.
Points of attention
- The US Senate is considering a bill to impose 'hellish sanctions' against Russia and those who assist it, with a focus on hitting Putin's buyers, predominantly China and India.
- There is hope that the bill could be passed before Congress goes on recess in August, showcasing bipartisan support and involvement from the White House.
Will the US Senate pass a bill on "hellish sanctions" against Russia?
Thun said he sees a chance to consider a bill with sanctions against Russia before Congress goes on recess in August.
I hope we can get it before the August recess. We're working with the administration and with the House to try and get it to the editorial board when it's ready.
Thune is confident of broad bipartisan support for this bill in the Senate.
I think the House of Representatives shares that, at least I hope so. The White House is very involved… Whether that will happen in the next couple of weeks is an open question, but I hope it is possible.
As a reminder, this is a bill initiated by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democrat Richard Blumenthal. It provides for the introduction of sanctions against the Russian Federation and secondary sanctions against buyers of Russian energy resources, uranium, and other products.
In particular, it talks about punishing countries that purchase sanctioned Russian goods with 500% tariffs on imports to the US.
Lindsey Graham said the bill would leave Trump room to maneuver in terms of what measures would ultimately be implemented.
The project is aimed at hitting Putin's buyers. China and India buy about 70% of Russian oil and gas and other petroleum products. I always believed that this war would end when China came to Putin and said, "No more, because this is hurting us."
Graham hopes that the bill can be brought up for consideration as early as next week. The senator previously announced that new sanctions against Russia should be approved in July and the bill already has Trump's approval, and he additionally called for this after the largest-ever shelling of Kyiv.
