Ukraine’s top sanctions official has arrived in Washington in an effort to keep alive a sweeping sanctions bill that passed the U.S. Senate with broad bipartisan support but now faces a more difficult test in the House of Representatives.
Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s sanctions commissioner, is expected to meet with U.S. lawmakers as Kyiv seeks to persuade Congress to advance legislation targeting Russia and Iran, named after the late Senator Lindsey O. Graham.
The legislation passed the Senate on August 7 by a vote of 86-11, reflecting unusually strong bipartisan support.
But the bill has yet to receive a vote in the House, where Democrats have raised concerns over provisions that would give President Donald Trump authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries that purchase Russian oil and gas or help Moscow evade sanctions.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said on August 31 that his caucus had not taken a position on the legislation. Democrats have expressed concern that the measure could give Trump broad additional powers over tariffs and sanctions that his administration could potentially use too extensively.
From Senate victory to House uncertainty
The legislation is the result of more than a year of negotiations involving Congress, the White House and Ukrainian officials.
It was strongly supported by the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who reached an agreement with the Trump administration before his death in July. A bipartisan group of senators subsequently moved the measure forward.
The Senate version would impose sanctions on Russian officials, oligarchs and their family members, as well as financial institutions and foreign entities supporting Moscow’s war effort. It also targets Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of vessels used to transport oil and circumvent Western restrictions.
The package extends the existing Iran sanctions law and includes measures targeting Iran’s energy and weapons sectors.
The White House has supported the legislation, presenting it as another tool Trump could use to increase pressure on Moscow and push Russia toward negotiations.
The most controversial provision concerns tariffs. Earlier versions of the bill would have allowed tariffs of up to 500 percent. The Senate version reduced the maximum to 100 percent and limited the measure to major purchasers of Russian oil or gas and countries involved in sanctions evasion.
China and India could face the greatest consequences because of their purchases of Russian energy.
Supporters argue that the provision is intended to give the White House leverage over countries that continue buying Russian energy rather than automatically triggering a broader trade war. Critics, however, question how much discretion Trump would have to determine when tariffs should be imposed or lifted.
Republican Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska has urged the House to act despite the disagreements.
“The Russia sanctions bill passed 86-11. The House should vote on it as soon as possible,” Bacon said on August 31. “Some are allowing perfection to become the enemy of good in the House. Congress needs to take clear action in support of Ukraine and against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, and it needs to do so now.”
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, who supports tougher measures against Moscow, also called for congressional action on August 31 while criticizing the Trump administration’s treatment of a senior Russian official.
“As Russia kills civilians in Ukraine, the White House is hosting Putin’s sanctioned finance minister on American soil,” Shaheen said, referring to Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov’s participation in a G20 meeting in North Carolina on August 31. “The Trump administration should be pressuring Putin and his inner circle, not giving them a platform. Now that the House is back in Washington, it is time to pass Russia sanctions.”
Ukraine makes its case
Vlasiuk’s visit comes as Ukraine seeks to keep lawmakers focused on Russia’s ability to finance and sustain its war effort.
Kyiv has long argued that Russia’s war effort depends heavily on revenue from energy exports and networks of companies, financial institutions and intermediaries that help Moscow circumvent sanctions.
Ukrainian officials have increasingly urged Western governments to target these networks rather than simply adding more Russian individuals to sanctions lists.
Vlasiuk has also worked with European governments to coordinate sanctions against Russian weapons manufacturers and foreign suppliers supporting Russia’s defense industry.
In August, he told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that the Senate vote sent “a strong signal from the American people” that Russia must pay a higher price for its aggression and that support for Ukraine remains strong.
“Now we expect the House of Representatives to pass the bill and the final approval by Congress,” Vlasiuk said.
Zelensky’s role
During his visit to Washington in July, Zelensky met with senators and urged them to advance the sanctions package after months of uncertainty in Congress.
His intervention helped secure the 86-11 Senate vote and demonstrated that support for additional pressure on Moscow can still cross party lines.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, one of the Democrats supporting the legislation, has argued that the measure could increase the economic cost of Russia’s war and strengthen Washington’s leverage in negotiations.
The Senate rejected an amendment that would have removed the tariff provision targeting countries that purchase Russian crude oil or natural gas, or facilitate sanctions evasion. The amendment failed 32-64 before the final bill passed 86-11.
The vote underscored the importance supporters attach to the tariff mechanism as a way of making sanctions more effective.
Blumenthal has also said he offered Zelensky the opportunity to return to Washington to address House members personally, as he did with senators. As of August 31, however, it remained unclear whether such a visit could take place in the coming weeks.
The politics of delay
The immediate question is whether House leaders can preserve enough of the Senate coalition to bring the legislation to a vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has not committed to holding a vote, while the bill is competing for attention with government funding measures and other priorities as lawmakers return from the summer recess.
The House’s narrow Republican majority makes bipartisan compromise particularly important.
For Ukraine, the delay carries risks. Kyiv wants the focus to remain on Russia’s war economy: oil revenues, sanctions-evasion networks and Moscow’s ability to continue producing weapons.
The Senate vote gave Kyiv evidence that bipartisan support for tougher sanctions against Russia remains strong. But a prolonged fight in the House could turn that consensus into a broader debate over the scope of Trump’s authority to impose trade tariffs.
