Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk publicly welcomed the final approval of the sanctions bill in the US Congress, initiated by Senator Lindsey Graham. According to the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, the adoption of the document means that pressure on Russia's ability to finance the war against Ukraine is moving from declarations to concrete decisions. This is reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing Stefanchuk's post on Facebook.
Parliamentary stage in the US completed
Stefanchuk emphasized that after the preliminary approval of the document by the Senate, its adoption by the House of Representatives completes the parliamentary stage of considering the bill in the US Congress. The Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada thanked the members of both chambers of Congress, as well as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, for supporting the initiative. He separately noted Senator Richard Blumenthal, who, together with Lindsey Graham, initiated the sanctions initiative and worked on its advancement for a long time.
"His work has a continuation"
Commenting on the further fate of the initiative, Stefanchuk stated: "After Lindsey Graham's death, this work did not stop. His work has a continuation. And the price of Russian aggression must keep rising." Thus, the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada emphasized that the sanctions line laid by Graham and Blumenthal is preserved and being implemented in the US Congress.
What the document provides for
According to the text of the bill, it grants US President Donald Trump the authority to impose 100-percent tariffs against the five largest importers of Russian oil and natural gas, as well as against five countries helping Russia circumvent energy sanctions. In addition, the document provides for sanctions against Russia's "shadow fleet," financial institutions — in particular the Central Bank of the Russian Federation — as well as major state energy projects. The document also covers Iran.
Contradictory data
The provided materials contain a minor inconsistency in the description of the legislative process: in the main part of the news, the final stage is called the preliminary approval by the Senate, completing the parliamentary cycle, whereas in the "as we reported" block it is stated that the House of Representatives "finally adopted" the bill and it is "being sent to the president for signature." Both versions describe the completion of the work of both chambers, however, the sequence and the wording of the "final" vote differ. The exact chronology of the votes in each chamber at the time of publication could not be confirmed from a single source.
Overall, as previously reported, the House of Representatives of the US Congress adopted the "hellish sanctions" bill against Russia and Iran, authored by the late Senator Lindsey Graham. After passing both chambers, the document is sent to the US president for signature.
