A bipartisan group of US senators has urged President Trump to use the Graham Act, a law named for Senator Lindsey Graham, to impose Russia sanctions faster.
The US Congress has passed a bill targeting countries that buy large amounts of Russian oil, and sent it to President Trump to sign into law.
The US House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on a bill letting President Trump impose tariffs of up to 100% on the five biggest buyers of Russian oil and gas.
A Senate bill for new sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine is losing momentum, as Republican leaders fill the pre-election calendar with other business and a top Democrat voices doubts about it.
Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top foreign policy official, has called for a big expansion of the EU's sanctions against Russia.
Senate Democrats are asking the Trump administration why it has issued no new sanctions in 17 months against networks that help Russia dodge existing sanctions imposed over its war in Ukraine.
A tanker called the Caroline Bezengi, sanctioned by the European Union and Britain for carrying Russian oil, has been leaking crude off Oman's coast since an explosion on board on 8 June.
The US Senate passed a broad sanctions bill targeting Russia's energy industry and Iran, after the measure had been stuck in Congress for months.
Britain announced new sanctions on Russia, targeting Ozon Bank, a Russian online banking service, and ships from the 'shadow fleet,' a group of aging tankers with hidden owners that Russia uses to keep selling oil despite Western restrictions.
Since clearing its 86-12 procedural vote, the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026 has been narrowed to cap tariffs at 100 percent on the top five Russian energy buyers. Twelve EU states, including Czechia, still import some Russian energy, and Democrats warn the tariff power Trump would gain never expires.
The U.S. Senate advanced a Russia and Iran sanctions bill named for the late Senator Lindsey Graham by an 86-vote margin, turning a negotiated deal into a concrete legislative step toward final passage.
The US Senate is holding an actual floor vote on a sanctions bill that could impose tariffs up to 500 percent on countries still buying Russian or Iranian oil.