The new US law aims to impose tough measures on Russia, weaken the Kremlin’s war spending and facilitate negotiations with Ukraine.
Published September 19, 2026
US President Donald Trump has signed a comprehensive sanctions package targeting Russia over the Ukraine war, days after Congress sent the bill to the White House with unusual bipartisan support.
The bill, signed Friday, is known as the Lindsay O. Graham Russia-Iran Sanctions Act of 2026 and honors the late Republican senator, who spent more than a year negotiating the deal before his sudden death in July. The book was co-authored with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal.
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The bill would impose sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin, senior officials and oligarchs, as well as Russian banks and financial institutions. It is also targeting Moscow’s energy and defense sectors, as well as its so-called shadow tanker fleet used to transport Russian oil to avoid Western sanctions.
A key provision gives President Trump the power to impose tariffs of up to 100% on the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas, with the measure expected to have the harshest impact on China and India, the top two importers of Russian crude oil. The bill would separately extend sanctions on Iran’s energy and weapons sectors.
The bill passed the Senate last month and passed the House on Wednesday, with 58 Democrats supporting it across party lines.
This is the first major Ukraine-related bill to pass Congress in more than two years.
Supporters say the goal is to drain the Kremlin of funding to support its war effort and force President Vladimir Putin to negotiate. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who lobbied lawmakers ahead of the vote, said the bill was a “very powerful tool.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson said the bill would put “maximum pressure” on what he called the “Russian war machine,” while Blumenthal said he hoped the bill would help bring Russia to the negotiating table, telling Putin: “I have your number.”
Not all Democrats participated. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries opposed the bill, warning that its tariff powers would raise costs for American families and that its sanctions provisions were riddled with “loopholes.”
India, one of the countries most exposed to the threat of new tariffs, said this week that it “remains resolutely committed to ensuring the energy security of our 1.4 billion people.”
President Trump’s decision came about a week before he was scheduled to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House.
