U.S. senators on Tuesday introduced an updated version of a sanctions bill against Russia, originally spearheaded by the late Senator Lindsey Graham, which softens the threat of tariffs on China, India, and other importers of Russian oil and gas contained in the initial proposal. This was reported by Reuters.

The bill, backed by senators from both the Republican and Democratic parties, is aimed at imposing sanctions on Russian officials and using duties to pressure China and India to reduce their dependence on Russia as an energy supplier.

Graham, who died suddenly on Saturday, having just the day before announced during a trip to Ukraine that he had reached an agreement with Donald Trump to advance the bill, did so more than a year after it was first introduced.

Senators' aides said the bill had the support of 26 lawmakers and expected that number to rise within hours, expressing optimism about its chances of passage. “We are fairly confident it will succeed,” one aide said.

The bill has been revised from the original version introduced by Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, and Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, in April 2025.

The new version of the bill reduces the tariffs that could be imposed on third-party buyers of Russian oil and natural gas to a maximum of 100% for the five largest buyers, compared with the previous proposal, which called for a blanket 500% rate.

It also includes an exemption for countries that import less than 15% of Russia’s natural gas exports and are taking significant steps to reduce those imports, which could exempt Japan, France, Hungary, and Belgium from the law’s scope.

According to aides, the five largest buyers of Russian oil are China, India, Slovakia, Hungary, and Azerbaijan, while the largest importers of Russian natural gas are China, France, Japan, Hungary, and Belgium.

The measure also imposes sanctions on Russia’s shadow tanker fleet, which does not rely on Western maritime shipping, on Russian financial institutions, including the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, and on Russia’s largest state-backed energy projects, including Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG 1, 2, and 3.

In addition, the new version includes a provision allowing Trump to lift sanctions if he deems it to be in the U.S. national interest.

Asked about the softening of some provisions from the original bill, one Senate aide noted that negotiations with Trump had lasted several months.

“This is the only bill that currently enjoys broad support, and likely the only one that will move forward and put pressure on Russia in the way we would all like,” the aide said. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because discussions of the bill were confidential.

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump told reporters at the White House that sanctions against Iran and Hezbollah could be included in the bill, noting that it would be “a very important event” if those measures were added.