Congress Passes Graham Russia Sanctions Bill, Awaits Trump

The US House of Representatives passed a bill on the evening of September 16 giving President Donald Trump the power to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries that buy Russian oil and gas, sending a new sanctions package targeting Russia and Iran to the White House for signature. The decision was made in Washington, but its effects reach as far as Belgrade: Serbia imports energy and is negotiating membership in the European Union, so any shift in the sanctions regime against Moscow affects the energy prices the domestic economy depends on, as well as the broader diplomatic framework in which those negotiations take place.

The bill is officially named the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, after the late Republican senator from South Carolina, who spent more than a year building bipartisan support for the measure. Graham died suddenly in July 2026, not long after a trip to Ukraine, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Kyiv Independent does not explicitly state the month of his death, but notes that the Senate passed the bill in early August, less than a month after the senator died, which also points to July.

The House passed the bill 262 to 159. Kyiv Independent reports that 203 Republicans, 56 Democrats and one independent voted in favor, while Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty puts the tally at 203 Republicans, 58 Democrats and one independent. Both outlets agree that seven Republicans and 152 Democrats voted against it. The Senate had already passed the bill 86 to 11 in early August. A first, procedural vote in the House was held on September 15 and passed narrowly, 214 to 211, after two Democrats, Jared Golden and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, crossed party lines to back it.

What does the law provide?

The bill gives the president the power to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas, as well as on five countries that help Moscow evade existing sanctions. The list of targeted countries will be reviewed every 180 days, and countries that import less than 15 percent of total Russian gas exports and are actively reducing that share will be exempt. According to Kyiv Independent, the largest buyers of Russian oil are China, India and Turkey, while the largest importers of Russian gas are the European Union, China and Turkey.

Alongside the tariffs, the bill imposes sanctions on President Vladimir Putin and senior Russian officials, as well as on Russia’s Central Bank, Sberbank, Gazprombank and state-owned companies. It also targets foreign entities that assist Russia’s defense sector, major energy projects and the so called shadow fleet, tankers Russia uses to export oil while evading Western sanctions. The same bill extends sanctions on Iran’s energy and military sectors for another five years. Republican Senator Katie Britt of Alabama said the measure holds Iran accountable for what she called 47 years of terror.

Reactions in Washington and Moscow

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who originally drafted the bill together with Graham, called its passage a historic moment:

Today is a historic triumph of democracy, ours and Ukraine’s, showing that America is still able to rally bipartisan unity in the fight for freedom.

He made the statement immediately after the House vote, and in comments to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty he also had a direct message for the Russian president: Vladimir Putin, we know you. Republican Congressman Michael McCaul of Texas, one of the bill’s sponsors in the House, said the measure could exhaust the Russian government to the point where Moscow would have to come to the negotiating table for a peaceful settlement.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on September 17 that Moscow is following the fate of the document and considers it a hostile move:

Introducing any additional sanctions from the United States would certainly hinder the efforts to find a peaceful solution.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports. Support for the bill came largely from Europe, although some officials were critical of the tariff powers it grants Trump. Estonian Ambassador to Washington Hanes Hanso told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that Tallinn supports the toughest possible sanctions on Russia:

We support as strict sanctions on Russia as possible, it is the aggressor, so this allows for very firm, strong and comprehensive sanctions.

Hanso added that the law is not perfect, but that the priority is for the new sanctions to take effect as soon as possible.

What this means for Serbia

For Belgrade, the most sensitive part of the bill is the one touching the energy sector. Serbia imports a significant share of its oil and gas from sources tied to the Russian market, so any expansion of the sanctions regime to buyers of Russian energy and to companies that help them evade existing restrictions could affect prices and supply conditions across the region. The European Union, some of whose members remain among the importers of Russian gas, has not formally reacted to the bill’s passage so far, but the Estonian ambassador’s remarks show that at least some European capitals see the new pressure on Moscow as welcome, despite reservations about the broad tariff powers the law grants the US president.

The vote took place in the House’s final week of work before the November congressional elections, scheduled for November 3, with both chambers returning to session on November 9. Trump is expected to sign the bill, but as of this writing the White House had not announced exactly when that will happen.