A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced a bill that would impose stiff new sanctions on Russia over its meddling in U.S. elections and aggression against Ukraine.
The new restrictions would target banks, Russia's LNG projects overseas, the country's cyber sector and sovereign debt, Senator Bob Menendez's office said.
Among other measures, the new bill introduces sanctions on Russia's shipbuilding sector in the event that Russia "violates the freedom of navigation in the Kerch Strait or anywhere else in the world". The legislation also imposes restrictions on "24 FSB agents deemed complicit in the Kerch Strait attack, in response to the 24 Ukrainian sailors currently detained by Russia".
It was introduced by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, as well as other members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It is a tougher version of legislation - dubbed the “sanctions bill from hell” by Graham - the two lawmakers backed last year but which failed to pass.
The bill would have to pass the US Congress and be signed by US President Donald Trump before becoming law, Reuters reported.
