The article
President Donald Trump has approved a hard-hitting sanctions package aimed at punishing Russia for its war in Ukraine, Sen. Lindsey Graham said after meeting the president at the White House earlier Wednesday.
Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, said Trump “greenlit” the Russia sanctions bill that has been in the works for months. A White House official also confirmed to The Associated Press that Trump supports the sanctions legislation, according to the report.
Graham said the decision would be “well-timed,” describing a moment when Ukraine is making concessions for peace while Russian President Vladimir Putin continues the war. In a statement, Graham said Putin is “all talk, continuing to kill the innocent,” referring to the Russian leader.
The sanctions bill, chiefly written by Graham and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, would allow the administration to impose tariffs and secondary sanctions on countries that buy Russia’s oil, gas, uranium and other exports. The administration’s goal, according to Graham and the AP reporting, is to cut off revenue that finances much of Russia’s military actions.
The White House has previously said it wanted revisions and flexibility in the sanctions package for Trump, but the White House official did not specify whether any changes had been secured by the time Trump gave the “greenlit” approval, the report said. The legislation has dozens of co-sponsors in the Senate and a companion bill in the House drafted by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.
Graham said there could be a Senate vote as early as next week, but it was unclear how likely that would be. The report said the Senate is positioned to take up a scaled-back government funding package next week that the House is currently considering, and the week after that includes a Senate recess timed to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
As the sanctions bill gains momentum, the Trump administration is working to finalize a peace deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war, which is now nearly four years old. The AP report said the chief U.S. negotiators are special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.