US HOUSE PASSES RUSSIA SANCTIONS BILL, SENDS TO TRUMP

The US House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday imposing fresh sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine, sending it to President Donald Trump for signature. The House vote passed 262 to 159, after the Senate approved the bill last month by 86 votes to 11. The legislation, called the "Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026", is named after the Republican senator from South Carolina who championed it before his death in July. It grants Trump the power to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries that import Russian oil and gas, and authorises sanctions on Russian officials, banks and tankers moving Russian energy.

The bill does not name specific countries, but is expected to target major buyers of Russian energy such as China and India, while potentially exempting Japan, France, Hungary and Belgium, which take smaller volumes of Russian supplies. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had pushed for the bill's passage and appealed directly to US senators before they approved it last month. Fifty-eight Democrats joined a majority of Republicans to pass the bill. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries opposed it, arguing its new tariff powers could be used against US allies and contained "so many loopholes" that sanctions relief was unlikely ever to be applied.

The vote marks the first Ukraine-related legislation Congress has passed in more than two years. Its passage follows more than a year of delays and obstacles that had held up the bill. It comes just days before Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to arrive in Washington for a summit with Trump. The bill now goes to Trump's desk, where his signature would make it law.