The White House has agreed to back a Senate bill that would empower the US president to impose tariffs of up to 500 percent on imports from countries that continue to buy Russian oil, natural gas, and uranium, four senators announced on 10 July. The agreement, confirmed by Republican senators Lindsey Graham and Roger Wicker alongside Democrats Richard Blumenthal and Jeanne Shaheen, removes a months-long executive block and clears the way for the legislation to be introduced in the Senate, where it is expected to draw broad bipartisan support. The bill does not automatically trigger sanctions; it grants the president discretionary authority to levy the penalties if Moscow is deemed unwilling to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.

Viewed from Washington, the move marks a recalibration of the administration’s approach. President Donald Trump had previously resisted congressional pressure for new energy-sector sanctions, partly out of concern that tightening supply would drive up global oil prices amid tensions with Iran. According to the senators, the recent cooling of the Iran conflict and a decline in crude prices have made the tariff mechanism more palatable. Graham, speaking from Kyiv, said the White House had agreed to a version of the bill that gives the president “flexibility” to decide when and against which countries to act. The legislation is designed to target major importers of Russian energy—China, India, and Turkey are the largest—by making their goods subject to prohibitive US tariffs if they do not shift purchases away from Russia.

Ukrainian officials, briefed by Graham during his visit, described the bill as a tool to increase long-term pressure on Moscow. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media that stronger battlefield performance combined with new sanctions would improve the chances for diplomacy. In Moscow, the foreign ministry responded that Russia has already adapted to all forms of sanctions pressure and that the US should recognise the futility of such measures. Analysts in European capitals note that the bill’s structure—offering the president a lever rather than a mandate—reflects a compromise between the White House’s desire for negotiating flexibility and Congress’s push for a more coercive framework.

The bill is the latest of more than a dozen sanctions-related initiatives introduced in the current Congress. Earlier versions had been put on hold after Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to explore a personal meeting. The four senators said they expect to present the agreed text to colleagues “very soon,” with a vote possible in the coming weeks. The White House has not issued a formal statement, but Graham indicated that the president’s support means the bill “will become law.” Once enacted, the tariff authority would remain at the president’s discretion, leaving the actual imposition of penalties contingent on diplomatic developments and the administration’s assessment of Russia’s posture in the conflict.