The US Senate delivered one of its strongest bipartisan endorsements of Ukraine since President Donald Trump returned to office, voting 86-12 on July 28 to advance sweeping legislation aimed at tightening economic pressure on Russia and Iran.
The procedural vote, held just hours after the funeral of Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the bill's chief architect, came immediately after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a personal appeal to senators behind closed doors before watching the vote from the Senate chamber.
The legislation, formally named the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, authorizes Trump to impose tariffs of up to 200 percent on the world's largest purchasers of Russian oil and natural gas while expanding sanctions targeting Russia's financial institutions, political elites, oligarchs, and the "shadow fleet" used to evade existing restrictions. It also extends sanctions on Iran through 2031.
Although the bill still faces final Senate passage and subsequent consideration in the House after the August recess, Tuesday's overwhelming vote underscored rare bipartisan consensus that economic pressure remains one of Washington's most powerful tools against Moscow.
Throughout the evening, senators repeatedly framed the legislation as not simply another sanctions package but a strategic effort to deprive President Vladimir Putin of the revenues financing Russia's war in Ukraine.
