In the U.S. Senate, Trump was urged to toughen sanctions against Russia more quickly - AP
Kyiv • UNN
Senators are calling for action against Russia's shadow fleet and satellite system. Most of the sanctions will take effect on October 18.
Leading senators from both parties in the U.S. Senate urged U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to more quickly restrict the flow of financial resources fueling russia’s war against Ukraine, nearly a month after Trump signed a bill imposing sweeping sanctions on Russia, named after Senator Lindsey Graham. UNN reports this, citing AP.
Details
In a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the senators said that the most urgent priority for the United States should be targeting the “shadow fleet” of tankers that moscow uses to transport oil and evade U.S. sanctions. They also urged the halting of a new Russian satellite system that, Ukraine warns, could prove devastating because of real-time bombardments this winter.
“Every day that passes without maximum economic pressure allows moscow to sustain this military escalation,” wrote Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Republican Senator Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The senators noted that most provisions of the law take effect on October 18, after the conclusion of the 30-day review period established by the administration. The Trump administration has largely remained silent since the bill’s passage, having a large bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate following Graham’s sudden death.
Trump was expected to speak with kremlin leader vladimir putin, whose birthday is Wednesday, to discuss a possible plague case at a Siberian research institute.
Update
The law, named after the late Senator Lindsey Graham, targets Russian banks, energy revenues, oligarchs, the Kremlin-linked “shadow fleet,” sanctions-evasion networks, as well as foreign governments and companies that help sustain moscow’s war against Ukraine. It will also extend longstanding sanctions against Iran through 2031.
A spokesperson for Graham previously stated that the senator called it a “hell sanctions bill.”