Trump, US senators agree on tougher sanctions targeting Russian oil buyers
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- Four bipartisan senators — Richard Blumenthal, Lindsey Graham, Jeanne Shaheen, and Roger Wicker — announced an agreement with the Trump administration to advance updated legislation imposing tougher sanctions on countries buying Russian oil and gas.
- Graham worked on the bill for months alongside Republicans and Democrats, told reporters the deal means it 'is going to become law,' and said it gives Trump 'additional tools to help end the war.'
- Zelenskyy welcomed Graham's support in a post on X and pushed for 'new sanctions steps by our partners' to reinforce 'long-range sanctions pressure on Russia'; Graham was in Kyiv on his 10th visit to the Ukrainian capital during Friday's meeting.
- The White House did not immediately respond to a comment request while the senators said they expect to 'roll out the legislation very soon.'
- Senators blamed Russia's 'intensifying slaughter of civilians' for the urgency; the seaborne oil license Washington let expire last month and renewed oil-price pressure from US strikes on Iran could complicate the timing.
- Trump met Zelenskyy in Ankara earlier this week, announced a US license for Ukraine to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors, and called their relationship 'very good' — a stark shift from previously branding Zelenskyy 'ungrateful.'
Why it matters: Russia's oil exports sustain its war funding, and this bipartisan deal gives Trump new statutory tools to sanction the countries still buying Russian energy. But the bill lands at an awkward moment: the US let a seaborne-oil license expire last month while Iran strikes are pushing oil prices higher, layering fresh sanctions on top of a tightening energy market.
