US Senator Graham: Senate to work on Russia sanctions bill next week

By Anastasiia Malenko

KYIV (Reuters) -The U.S. Senate is set to move ahead next week with a bill imposing more sanctions on Russia over its three-year-old war in Ukraine, Senator Lindsey Graham said on Friday after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, was accompanied on a visit to Kyiv by Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal who cosponsored the Senate sanctions measure, which sets a 500% tariff on goods imported from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other products.

Graham said the legislation, which had 82 cosponsors, would impose "bone-breaking sanctions" on Russia and its customers.

"So, I would expect next week that the Senate will start moving the sanctions bill. There are House members that are ready to move in the House, and you'll see congressional action," he said.

To become law, the measure must pass the Senate and House of Representatives and be signed by President Donald Trump. Trump has expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin's action in Ukraine but has held off on more sanctions, saying he worries they would hurt prospects for a peace deal.

Graham said his aim was to muster bipartisan congressional support "for tools that would help President Trump get Putin to the peace table. These sanctions would do that."

It was not immediately clear when the House might take up the sanctions bill, and Speaker Mike Johnson's office did not respond to a request for comment.

Graham told a news conference that Putin was trying to drag out the peace process. Ukraine has called for an immediate ceasefire.

After direct talks between Russia and Ukraine earlier this month yielded no progress on a ceasefire, Graham said he expected a second round, proposed by Russia for Monday in Turkey, would be little more than a "Russian charade."

"When they talk about peace, it is all talk. Look at what they are doing on the ground and you will see that Putin is trying to delay, drag it out, prepare for another military assault to gain land by force of arms," Graham said.

Washington already has sweeping sanctions on Russia in punishment for its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. also participates in international restrictions on Russian oil sales that impose a price cap and sanctions on oil tankers.

Zelenskiy has called for a new round of U.S. sanctions on Russia and, writing on the Telegram messaging app on Friday, welcomed the legislation.

(Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle in Washington; editing by Ron Popeski and Cynthia Osterman)