Washington, United States. Four US senators said on Friday they had reached agreement with President Donald Trump’s administration to move forward with updated legislation on Russia sanctions. The lawmakers said they expected to roll out the legislation very soon.
Agreement on sanctions legislation
Senators Richard Blumenthal, Lindsey Graham, Jeanne Shaheen and Roger Wicker said in a statement that they had reached agreement with the Trump administration to advance the updated legislation.
“We are proud to announce that we have reached an agreement with the Trump Administration to move our updated Russia sanctions legislation forward. We are very pleased with this significant progress and expect to roll out the legislation very soon,” the senators said.
Focus on Russian energy buyers
The statement said it was imperative for the legislative and executive branches to work together as Russia intensified its attacks on civilians.
“As Russia intensifies its slaughter of civilians, it is imperative that the legislative and executive branches work together to create tools to exact a heavy price on those who buy Russian oil and natural gas, fuelling the Putin war machine,” the statement said.
The legislation, which Graham has been working on with fellow Republicans and Democrats for months, would impose sanctions on countries doing business with Russia, including buyers of its energy exports, over Moscow’s failure to negotiate a peace deal with Ukraine.
White House response and Ukraine context
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Earlier this week, Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Ankara. The tone of the meeting was a sharp departure from Trump’s past harsh criticism of Zelenskiy, which had included Trump calling him “ungrateful.”
On Wednesday, Trump said the two had developed a “very good” relationship and that both Moscow and Kyiv wanted to end the war that began with Russia’s invasion in February 2022.