Thune tees up bill to provide assistance to Ukraine, sanction Russia

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Thursday took procedural steps to place on the Senate calendar House-passed legislation to provide $1.3 billion in security assistance for Ukraine and expand sanctions on Russia.

That bill could serve as a shell for separate legislation, negotiated by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and unveiled this week by a group of bipartisan senators, that would place punishing sanctions on countries that purchase Russian energy exports.

Putting the House bill, H.R. 2913, on the calendar allows the measure to begin the sometimes lengthy process of moving through the Senate while leaders work out any objections to the Graham-negotiated bill, setting up a possible vote later in the July work period.

The Graham legislation would hit the biggest importers of Russian crude oil with tariff rates as high as 100 percent. It would exempt, however, U.S. allies that continue to buy natural gas from Russia such as France and Japan.

Some Republicans, such as Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), have objected to placing massive tariffs on major consumers of Russian oil, such as China and India.

Those two countries exported more than $400 billion worth of goods to the United States in 2025.

The House bill passed the lower chamber last month by a vote of 226-195 despite the opposition of House GOP leaders.

Eighteen House Republicans crossed the aisle to vote with Democrats to pass the legislation.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) last month criticized the legislation, the Ukraine Support Act, as “poorly drafted” and urged House GOP colleagues at a private conference meeting to vote against it.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Graham’s partner on the tougher sanctions bill, last month praised passage of the House bill to help Ukraine and expand some sanctions on Russia.

“This bill’s sledgehammer combination of military support and economic sanctions would help give Ukraine the means to finish the job. It strongly serves our own national interest by stopping [Russian President Vladimir] Putin before he spreads his murderous aggression, and pressures him to seek peace,” Blumenthal said in a statement last month praising the House-passed bill.

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John Thune

Lindsey Graham

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Richard Blumenthal

Vladimir Putin

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