Russia sanctions championed by Graham clear first Senate hurdle

The U.S. Senate advanced sweeping Russian energy sanctions legislation on Tuesday as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited the Capitol, seeing the vote as a tribute to the bill's author, the late Senator Lindsey Graham, on the day of his funeral.



The tally was 86 to 12 in favor on a procedural vote to advance the bill, which seeks to impose sanctions on Russian officials and authorize stiff tariffs on China, India and other countries to reduce their dependence on Russian oil and gas.



Republican President Donald Trump has said he would support the measure, after asking that sanctions on Iran be added, which they have been as the U.S. war against Iran enters its sixth month.



Though Democrats are broadly supportive of the sanctions, the tariff authority for Trump has raised concerns about potentially higher import costs. Those concerns threaten the legislation's prospects for passing the Senate, as well as the House of Representatives when it resumes in September.



If it becomes law, the bill would allow Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries that are major consumers of Russian energy, including India, Japan and some countries in the European Union, and leave it to his discretion to lift them.