A group of Republican and Democratic US senators have introduced legislation that would expand sanctions on Russian energy, specifically targeting older oil tankers that lawmakers say are being used to evade existing US energy sanctions, Reuters reports.
The "Sanction Ports and Western Sanctions Evasion Act", or "Shadow Fleets Act" comes as President Donald Trump has said he wants to stop countries from buying Russian oil, which fuels Russia's economy and helps finance its war in Ukraine.
The bill was introduced by Republican Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the committee, along with seven other senators from both parties.
The bill would target the so-called shadow fleet, providing a list of indicators the United States can use to identify ships supporting the Russian fleet, and would establish strict liability for sanctions for any ship involved in a transfer with a sanctioned ship.
The bill also sanctions Russian liquefied natural gas projects in the Arctic and the development of new Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects. It would also put an end to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. to Europe.
The measure would also bring U.S. sanctions more in line with those of the European Union. EU officials have said the bloc plans to ban imports of Russian liquefied natural gas a year earlier than planned, as part of a 19th round of sanctions against Moscow.
The bill’s prospects, however, are unclear. A separate bill aimed at imposing tough sanctions on Russia, introduced earlier this year and supported by a large majority of senators, has not advanced as Republican leaders in Congress await a decision from Trump on whether he wants the sanctions to continue.
As the world reacts to a Russian incursion into Estonian airspace that raised fears of increased instability, senators have introduced separate bills aimed at boosting security in Eastern Europe and using frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine.