Russia sanctions bill gains steam as White House appears to change tone on Putin

An effort to advance a blistering sanctions package against Russia and its trade partners is again gaining steam in the Senate, and this time it appears that President Donald Trump is on board.

A sanctions bill advanced by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., was largely sidelined as the Senate sprinted to hit its July 4 deadline to pass Trump’s 'big, beautiful bill,' but has come roaring back into the limelight now that the grueling reconciliation process has been put to bed.

The duo’s bill would slap up to 500% tariffs on countries buying energy products from Moscow, effectively placing Russia’s war machine in a chokehold by imposing duties on oil, gas, uranium and other exports, largely purchased by China and India, which account for nearly three-quarters of Moscow’s energy business.

But the bill hit a snag at the White House, where Trump maintained that he wanted to continue peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, and also wanted more flexibility on the proposed penalties in the bill.

However, there’s been a tonal shift in Trump’s opinion of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Graham believes that Trump is now on board with the plan.

'My goal is to get them on the president’s desk before the August break. We got 85 co-sponsors,' he said. 'There’s a waiver in the bill to give the president leverage. I told the president last week about it. He thinks the bill will be helpful. So we'll get it to him.'

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

On the changes that are coming to the bill, Blumenthal said the waiver authority making its way into the legislation was working out 'technical issues' on how the stringent sanctions would affect the world’s financial system, how America’s allies could be impacted, and providing Trump more flexibility over how the sanctions are levied against Russia’s trade partners.

'Trump is seeing what we've all recognized, which is that Putin is playing the United States for free,' he said of the president’s change in tone toward Putin.

'He's stalling and stonewalling, continuing his aerial reign of terror on Ukrainian civilians and his atrocities against kidnapped children,' Blumenthal continued. 'The president is simply reflecting the fact that Putin has no interest in peace. He wants domination.'

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., wants to get the bill on the floor by the end of the month, and noted that the upper chamber was working in conjunction with the House and the White House to 'get it in a form where it's ready.'

Still, he said it was an 'open question' as to when Graham and Blumenthal’s bill could get a vote.

'I think it's an important message to send, especially now, and I think it's leverage that we need,' Thune said.

While the bill does have broad bipartisan support within the Senate, and the backing of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., not every Senate Republican is on board with the plan.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., charged that the measure was 'not a Russian sanctions bill. It's a worldwide embargo tariff bill.'

He argued that the bill would institute '500% tariffs' to any country that does business with Russia, and noted that there are a handful of European Union countries that are dependent on Russian oil and gas.

Paul also charged that slapping China with such a hefty sanction would lead to no more trade with the country.

'It's the worst, most economically illiterate bill ever to be presented in modern history,' he said.