U.S. Senators Urge Trump to Strengthen Sanctions Against Russia Using Graham Law

The U.S. Senate has called on the administration of President Donald Trump to accelerate the introduction of new sanctions against Russia, focusing on its shadow tanker fleet, financial networks, and suppliers of technology for the military industry.

American lawmakers demand active action ahead of the entry into force of key provisions of the new sanctions law on October 18.

The corresponding letter was sent on October 6 to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent by Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the leading Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Republican Roger Wicker, chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

The senators named the most urgent task as strengthening sanctions against the Russian shadow fleet, which Moscow uses to export oil in circumvention of international restrictions.

According to the data cited in the letter, the European Union and the United Kingdom have put more than 600 vessels on sanctions lists, while the United States has only 216, most of them as early as 2025.

In the lawmakers' opinion, this discrepancy allows hundreds of Russian tankers to continue transporting oil and provide the Kremlin with revenues to finance the war against Ukraine.

The senators called on Washington to align its sanctions lists with European partners. They emphasized that U.S. restrictions are particularly significant because they can cut off sanctioned vessels from the dollar-based financial system and Western maritime services.

The lawmakers paid separate attention to the financial intermediaries through which Russia continues to sell oil and circumvent sanctions. After the introduction of U.S. restrictions against Lukoil and Rosneft in October 2025, Moscow, according to them, shifted part of its operations to networks of intermediary companies concentrated mainly in the UAE and Hong Kong.

The senators propose expanding sanctions against such entities, as well as strengthening oversight of the A7 financial network, foreign subsidiaries of Russia's VTB, particularly in Shanghai, and financial institutions in Kyrgyzstan that may facilitate sanctioned operations.

In addition, the authors of the appeal demand cutting off supplies of dual-use technologies to Russia. This primarily concerns high-precision computer numerical control machine tools necessary for the production of ammunition, and specialized microelectronics used to manufacture jet drones.

As the senators note, companies from China, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey remain important channels for the supply of such components. To counter these schemes, they propose more actively applying secondary sanctions.

Another area of sanctions pressure should be the Russian satellite program. The lawmakers called on the U.S. Treasury Department to impose restrictions against the companies Bureau 1440, 5C Group, and Eltex Enterprise, as well as their associated supply networks in China and Central Asia.

According to the senators' assessment, Russia's deployment of a large-scale satellite constellation in low Earth orbit could enhance the capabilities of the Russian military in the areas of communications, command and control, and weapons guidance, posing an additional threat to Ukrainian forces and civilians.

The senators' appeal is linked to the law of the late Senator Lindsey Graham regarding sanctions against Russia and Iran, which Donald Trump signed on September 18. The document expands U.S. sanctions authorities against Russia and codifies a number of financial and trade restrictions.

In particular, from October 18, the law's ban on new American investments in Russia is to take effect. The law also establishes restrictions on financial transactions with Russian state entities and the purchase of Russian sovereign debt.

The senators stressed the need to publish clear rules for applying the new restrictions in advance so that American financial institutions have no opportunity to continue operations that provide capital to the Russian economy.

"Every day without maximum economic pressure allows Moscow to sustain military escalation", - the authors of the letter emphasized.

They also noted that October 18 will be an important deadline to demonstrate Washington's readiness to ensure the enforcement of sanctions adopted with broad bipartisan support in Congress.

Based on materials from: U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, White House, text of the U.S. law