President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy called achieving what Senator Lindsey Graham fought for the best way to honor the memory of the senator, who worked for a long time on a draft law on U.S. sanctions against Russia and died suddenly in July after returning from Ukraine.
"Paid tribute to the late Senator Lindsey Graham at a special memorial service in Washington. We saw each other very recently, and it is deeply symbolic that Senator Graham’s last foreign trip was a visit to Kyiv. We spoke about important things – further support for Ukraine and increasing pressure on Russia. Now we see how these efforts are becoming reality. And I believe that the best way to honor his memory is to achieve what he fought for, particularly regarding Ukraine," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram on Wednesday.
He emphasized the need to support this aspiration and not allow Russia to drag out the war against Ukraine. "We are convinced that America has all the necessary tools. President Trump has all the necessary tools. It would be right to work together in precisely this way," Zelenskyy noted.
As reported, Zelenskyy visited Washington on Tuesday to attend the funeral of Senator Graham and held a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, who had previously declared that the draft law on sanctions against Russia, developed by Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal and introduced in the Senate back on December 17, 2025, would be passed and that he would sign it in honor of Graham.
During his visit to the U.S., Zelenskyy reported that support for the bill in the U.S. Senate currently stands at 61 votes, allowing the document to advance toward passage. On the same day, the Senate supported its further consideration by a vote of 86 in favor to 12 against.
The document contains exemptions for countries that import less than 15% of their natural gas from Russia and are taking measures to reduce these imports. The draft law also provides for sanctions against Vladimir Putin, high-ranking officials of the Russian political and military leadership, financial institutions, and energy projects of Russia. In addition, it expands American sanctions against old oil tankers with re-registration that Moscow uses to circumvent existing restrictions on Russian oil and energy revenues.
On Friday, July 10, Graham was on his tenth consecutive visit to Ukraine, meeting with Zelenskyy to discuss sanctions against Russia, and on July 12, he passed away following a sudden, brief illness.
