US Senate advances Russia-Iran sanctions bill to debate
What's next: Senators can offer amendments before a 60-vote step to cut off debate and force a final vote.
The US Senate cleared a procedural hurdle to move ahead with a bill imposing additional sanctions on Russia and Iran, opening the measure to formal debate and amendments. The motion passed with more than half of senators present voting in favor, marking the second procedural step on the bill in less than 24 hours. Under the proposal released in early July, the tariff floated for the five biggest buyers of Russian oil and gas would be reduced from 500% to 100%, while goods imported from Russia into the United States would face a 500% duty. The bill also targets bank-rossii, sberbank, vtb and gazprombank. If the Senate passes it, the measure would go to the House.