Top lawmakers unveil bipartisan deal knocking Russia on trade relations, energy imports

(Image credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

published 7 March 2022

Senior Democratic and Republican lawmakers on Monday reached a deal on legislation punishing Russia for its attack on Ukraine, as Congress looks to ban imports of Russian oil, The Washington Post reports.

The new bipartisan agreement "would limit Russian energy imports, suspend normal trade relations between the U.S. and the Kremlin, and task the Biden administration to seek Russia's suspension from the World Trade Organization," writes the Post. The trade penalties would also extend to Belarus.

"As Russia continues its unprovoked attack on the Ukrainian people, we have agreed on a legislative path forward to ban the import of energy products from Russia and to suspend normal trade relations with both Russia and Belarus," wrote Reps. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) in a statement. Neal and Brady are the top lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee, while Wyden and Crapo oversee the Senate Finance Committee. The four unveiled the plan together after reaching a deal.

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Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.

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