Senate Could Vote on Russia Sanctions Bill This Month: Thune

The Senate could soon vote on a bill imposing new sanctions against Russia, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) announced on July 9.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Thune noted that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has advanced a bill to expand the sanctions.

“I fully expect that that could be ready for floor consideration as early as this work period,” Thune said.

Thune’s comments came a day after President Donald Trump confirmed that he was considering expanding Russia sanctions amid slow progress in talks to end the Russia–Ukraine war.

The Senate majority leader said Graham’s bill enjoys strong bipartisan support and would “enhance President Trump’s leverage at the negotiating table and help end the bloodshed in Ukraine.”

“Senate Republicans are committed to working with the House and White House to get this legislation through Congress and onto the president’s desk,” Thune said.

Speaking during a July 8 Cabinet meeting, Trump expressed his frustration over how Russian President Vladimir Putin has acted in the negotiations.

“We get a lot of [expletive] thrown at us by Putin, [if] you want to know the truth,” the president said. “He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”

Trump stopped short of fully endorsing Graham’s sanctions bill during his Cabinet meeting remarks.

When asked if he would sign the new sanctions legislation if it came to his desk, the president said: “It’s an optional bill. It’s totally at my option to pass it, totally at my option. And to terminate, totally at my option.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who is working closely with Graham to advance the sanctions bill, told The Epoch Times he’s hopeful the legislation will dissuade countries like China and India from “fueling Putin’s war machine.”

Russian forces have continued to fight in Ukraine despite expanding U.S. and international sanctions since 2022.

Blumenthal said he expects that new sanctions could trigger a change in Putin’s attitude toward the war and negotiations.

“The sanctions are going to be bone-crushing and they will certainly hit his economy very hard, and should make him a lot more serious about his negotiations,” Blumenthal said.

On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters that he’s also interested in advancing the sanctions legislation in the House of Representatives.

“Vladimir Putin has shown an unwillingness to be reasonable and to talk seriously about brokering a peace, and I think we have to send him a message—that’s my view,” Johnson told reporters.

Trump Ramps Up Ukraine Support

Earlier this week, Trump announced that the United States would send more weapons to Ukraine, days after the Department of Defense announced a pause of some military assistance to Ukraine as part of a “capability review” to ensure that U.S. military aid aligns with America’s “defense priorities.”

Ukraine has called on the United States to send more Patriot missiles and other air defense systems as Russia continues to launch large-scale drone and missile barrages.

Speaking with reporters as he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on July 7, Trump said the new round of weapons to Ukraine would be primarily defensive. He noted that Ukraine is “getting hit very hard now.”

On July 4, Ukrainian authorities reported that Russian forces had carried out the largest aerial assault of the more-than-three-year war, launching 550 attack drones and missiles at Ukraine.

Russian forces conducted a new record-breaking attack on July 9, launching 738 drones and 13 missiles at Ukraine.

Bipartisan Senate Backing

Blumenthal and 83 other Senators have already signed on as co-sponsors for Graham’s sanctions bill.

“I think we need a strong tool to get the Chinese and the Indians especially, to stop buying Russian oil and gas and this could be the thing,” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) told The Epoch Times.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) told The Epoch Times he fully supports the new Russia sanctions legislation and has been encouraged by Trump’s recent moves to arm Ukraine. Fetterman signaled optimism that these steps could force Putin to engage in diplomacy.

“That would absolutely bring it back to the negotiation table,” the lawmaker said.

Congressional Republicans may be waiting on Trump before they decide to move forward on the Russia sanctions legislation or to expand support for Ukraine. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) told The Epoch Times that congressional leaders are working closely with the Trump administration on Russia and Ukraine-related matters.

“We’re not going to get ahead of them. We want to work with them,” Mullin said.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) expressed support for including a provision within the sanctions legislation that allows the president to waive new Russia-related sanctions for a time, which could give Trump more options in negotiations.

“I think it’s prudent. We need to have the president, have flexibility,” Tillis told The Epoch Times. “But you can see he’s very frustrated with Putin. And so I think having this tool in the toolbox may have a calming effect on Putin.”

Nathan Worcester and Melanie Sun contributed to this report.