The United States House of Representatives has passed a broad bipartisan package of sanctions targeting Russia over its war against Ukraine, marking the most significant congressional action in support of Kyiv in more than two years. The chamber approved the legislation by a vote of 262 to 159 on Wednesday, following an overwhelming 86-to-11 vote in the Senate last month. President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill into law.

The legislation is named the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, after the late Republican senator from South Carolina who spent more than a year negotiating the bill and securing Trump's backing before his death in July. The measure targets Russian officials, banks, and the so-called shadow fleet — a network of tankers used to move Russian energy exports in circumvention of existing trade restrictions. Crucially, it also grants the president authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on the five largest importers of Russian oil or natural gas, a provision aimed primarily at China, India, and Turkey. An exception is built in for countries that import less than 15 percent of Russia's natural gas and are taking meaningful steps to reduce that share, a carve-out widely seen as protecting European Union member states. The bill also includes a five-year extension of existing sanctions on Iran, an element that helped bring Trump on board. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who attended Graham's funeral and lobbied US lawmakers directly, urged passage of the bill on social media, saying that "during war it is sometimes better to make a not-so-perfect decision than to do nothing."

The vote exposed deep divisions within the Democratic Party, despite its longstanding support for Ukraine. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York opposed the bill, warning that its tariff provisions contain so many loopholes that meaningful pressure on Russia is unlikely to materialise, while the broad new executive powers could be turned against US allies. Fifty-eight Democrats broke with party leadership to vote in favour, joining the large majority of Republicans. Critics such as Representative Don Beyer of Virginia predicted that if Trump used the tariff authorities against European allies, the resulting propaganda victory for the Kremlin would outweigh any benefit to Ukraine. Supporters countered that inaction would be worse. "If we fail to pass this bill, there will be cheers in the Kremlin and tears in Kyiv," said Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland.

Speaker Mike Johnson hailed the vote, saying the legislation places "maximum pressure on the Russian war machine" and gives the administration "every tool in the toolbox" to end the war. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who co-wrote the bill with Graham, said he hopes the sanctions will push President Vladimir Putin toward the negotiating table. The passage ends more than a year of congressional gridlock on Ukraine-related legislation, a period marked by stalled aid debates and a sometimes turbulent relationship between Washington and Kyiv under the current administration. Whether the bill's teeth will be felt depends largely on how — and against whom — Trump chooses to wield the new powers it confers.