US Senate to vote on new Russia sanctions unless peace efforts progress soon, Senator Graham says

The U.S. Senate is ready to vote on a bill on sanctions against Russia if peace talks over the war in Ukraine do not progress soon, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said on May 20, as Voice of America journalist Tetiana Vorozhko reported.

The U.S.-mediated negotiations between Ukraine and Russia have stalled, as Moscow continues to refuse a ceasefire and pushes its claims to four partially occupied Ukrainian oblasts — Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk, and Luhansk — and Crimea.

"If the next few days are like the last few months, then you can just count on us moving, because I think it's our job to try to help the world end this war," Graham said during the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearings.

"The Chinese are watching. This is a dress rehearsal for Taiwan. How this ends, I think, will greatly determine what happens with the future of Taiwan. And I want this war to end in a way that makes Xi (Jinping) think, 'Well, that didn't work out too well for (Vladimir) Putin,'" the senator said.

Graham stressed that the war in Ukraine must end in a way that prevents a new one from starting.

"Afghanistan was a disaster. If we do not get this right in Ukraine, and the world perceives that Putin got away with it, that will be even worse. That will be worse than Afghanistan," he added.

The bill, introduced to the Senate in early April, would impose new penalties on Russia and slap 500% tariffs on imports from countries that buy Russian oil, petroleum products, natural gas, or uranium.

The bill, proposed by Graham and Senator Richard Blumenthal, was supported by 72 senators, a majority in the Senate, according to Graham.

Ukraine's European allies are tightening sanctions against Russia as Moscow refuses to cease fire. Despite Russia's refusal, no new U.S. sanctions have been imposed so far, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying that new sanctions "could also make it much worse" after he held a phone call with Putin.

Several media outlets reported on European leaders' frustrations with the lack of U.S. sanctions against Russia, with a senior European official telling the New York Times (NYT) that Trump "never seemed invested in joining sanctions on Russia."