Grahams Death Leaves Fate of Russia Sanctions Bill Uncertain

Hours before his death, Senator Lindsey Graham believed he was on the cusp of a breakthrough.After more than a year of cajoling the White House, rallying colleagues on Capitol Hill and assuring Ukrainian leaders that sweeping sanctions against Russia and its allies were on the way, the senator, a Republican, emerged from meetings last week convinced he had finally won over President Trump.Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday Mr.Trump signaled support for the package of penalties and said that lawmakers might be looking to expand the reach of the legislation to include those who do business with Iran and Hezbollah, in addition to countries and businesses that buy oil and gas from Russia.“This is in honor of Lindsey,” Mr.

Trump said during remarks in the Oval Office on Tuesday when asked if he would sign a sanctions package into law.“This was his thing, he wanted this more than any other thing.

You know how he felt.” He added: “And there’s a good chance that it gets done.But they’d like to add Iran.

And they’d like to add Hezbollah to it.That’s what I’m hearing.”Mr.

Graham’s death left the legislation without its most fervent Republican champion on Capitol Hill, and while his colleagues in both parties have said they hope to press forward in his honor, it was not clear whether his loss would sap the package of its momentum or propel it to enactment.The day before he died, Mr.Graham was heartened by a supportive email from White House officials to a group of senators who had been working with him on legislation that would impose stiff new penalties on those who buy Russian oil and gas.Standing in Mykhailivska Square in Kyiv on Friday with destroyed Russian armored vehicles on display in the background, Mr.

Graham announced that he had reached a breakthrough.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Re...