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Efforts to advance a fierce sanctions package against Russia and its trading partners have once again become steaming in the Senate, with President Donald Trump on board this time.
The sanctions bill, advanced by Senator Lindsey Graham (Rs.C.), was mostly on the sidelines as the Senate hit the July 4 deadline and ran to hand over Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” but now a generous settlement process has gone to bed.
The duo bill effectively places Russian war machinery in chokeholds by slapping up to 500% tariffs in countries buying energy products from Moscow and tasking exports of oil, gas, uranium and other products primarily purchased by China and India, which account for almost three-quarters of Moscow’s energy business.
When Trump calls for peace talks in Ukraine, a massive Russian sanctions package is a food stall
President Donald Trump and Senator Lindsey Graham (Getty Images)
However, the bill was caught in the White House. There, Trump argued that he would continue peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, and also wanted flexibility in the proposed penalties in the bill.
But Trump’s opinion about Russian President Vladimir Putin has changed the sound, and Graham believes Trump is currently on the plan.
The White House is interested in Russian sanctions proposals as talks on the Ukrainian war peace are dragged down
Senator Richard Blumental speaks to the press outside the Senate after voting at the US Capitol on February 27, 2025 (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
“My goal is to put it on the president’s desk before the August break. I’ve got 85 co-sponsors,” he said. “There’s an exemption in the bill to give the president leverage. I spoke to the president last week about it, and he thinks the bill will help.
Fox News Digital reached the White House for comment.
Regarding the changes that come to the bill, Blumenthal said exemption authorities entering the law are to resolve “technical issues” about how strict sanctions will affect the global financial system, how they will affect American allies, and provide Trump with more flexibility in how sanctions will be imposed on Russian trading partners.
“Trump sees what we all recognize: Putin is playing the US for free,” he said of the president’s change of tone to Putin.
“He has stagnated, stoned and continues to carry on air treatment of fears towards Ukrainian civilians and atrocities against kidnapped children,” Blumental continued. “The president simply reflects the fact that Putin is not interested in peace. He wants control.”
Senate Republicans move to give China an advantage in harvesting minerals for weapons systems
Senate Majority Leader John Tune will speak at a press conference held at the US Capitol on June 17, 2025 (Anna Money Maker/Getty Images)
Senate majority leader John Tune (Rs.D.) said he hopes to get the bill on the floor by the end of the month, and that the Senate is working in conjunction with the home and the White House to “get it in a ready way.”
Still, he said that Graham and Blumenthal’s bills were “unresolved questions” when they could get votes.
“I think sending is an important message, especially now, and I think leverage is what you need,” Thune said.
The bill has broad and bipartisan support within the Senate, but House Speaker Mike Johnson is backed by R-La. But not all Senate Republicans are involved in the plan.
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Senator Rand Paul accused the measure of “not a Russian sanctions bill. It is a global embargo bill.”
He argued that the bill would enact “500% tariffs” on countries doing business with Russia, pointing out that there are a small number of European Unions that rely on Russian oil and gas.
Paul also accused that slap China with such large sanctions would eliminate trade with the country.
“What is presented in modern history is the most economically illiterate bill to date,” he said.
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital, which covers the US Senate.
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