WASHINGTON– The Senate took the first steps toward passing a sweeping Russia sanctions bill Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Capitol Hill, advancing legislation to penalize countries that continue to buy Russian oil, gas and other exports after more than a year of negotiations.

The bipartisan 86-12 procedural vote came hours after the funeral of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the bill’s lead negotiator. Zelenskyy, who was in Washington to attend Graham’s service, previously met with senators and told them that Ukraine is making progress in its war with Russia but still needs more help from the United States.

Zelenskyy then went to the Senate gallery to watch the vote and waved to senators below.

At the meeting, Zelenskyy told senators that the sanctions legislation “is important as a moral signal to a country that is tired and weary, even as it stands firm and then some against Russia,” Republican Sen. Todd Young of Indiana said as he left the meeting.

Graham and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., announced an agreement with the White House on sanctions legislation on July 10, a day before his sudden death, likely from an aortic tear. Graham had just returned from a trip to Ukraine, where he met with Zelenskyy.

Blumenthal said Graham told him the deal they had reached was a “great deal” in the last conversation they had just before his death.

“It’s an important part of his legacy,” Blumenthal said.

He said the bill has momentum in part because Ukraine is turning the tide of the war, because the bill was carefully negotiated and “there is sentiment toward Senator Graham.”

Zelenskyy’s presence also helps, Blumenthal said, and “seeing his face when he was in the gallery while we voted was really a moment of joy.”

On Zelenskyy’s last visit to Capitol Hill, his message was “positive,” Young said, and he talked about how Ukrainians are making good progress against Russia in different areas of the war.

The bill is a “keystone in that overall effort” to hurt the Russian economy and bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table, Young said.

Zelenskyy told them “now they are winning the war,” said Sen. Jim Justice, RW.V.

“The first year was surviving. The next three years was getting on your feet. But now they’re winning,” Justice said.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said Zelenskyy told senators that “Putin would think a little more about trying to negotiate a deal if sanctions were in place and actually created more irritation.”

The bill “will send Putin a bipartisan message in a language he understands,” said New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. “This is our best opportunity to support Ukraine. We are defending not only their country but the rest of Europe from an increasingly aggressive Russia.”

Zelenskyy met with President Donald Trump earlier in the day and the two discussed ways the United States could help in his war with Russia.

Graham, Blumenthal and other Ukraine supporters had been working for more than a year to negotiate legislation that would win approval from both the White House and a majority of senators.

The bill allows the president to impose tariffs on the world’s five largest buyers of Russian oil or natural gas, with China and India at the top of that list. Provides exceptions for countries that import less than 15% of their natural gas from Russia and are taking steps to reduce those imports.

The legislation also includes sanctions on Putin, senior Russian political and military leaders, Russian financial institutions and Russian energy projects. It would expand U.S. sanctions to target older and newly flagged oil tankers that Russia uses to circumvent existing U.S. sanctions on Russian oil and energy revenues.

The negotiated bill also includes waiver authority for the president, allowing the White House to waive sanctions or restrictions if the president certifies to Congress that the waiver is in the national interest.

Negotiators also added an extension of certain sanctions on Iran after Trump asked the Senate to add Iran to the bill.

While the president’s authority was reduced in the final negotiations, the latest version still generated some skepticism from Democrats who did not want to give Trump additional powers to impose tariffs.

“It is extremely dangerous to give Trump massive new tariff powers, particularly after having seen the disastrous impacts of his wave of corrupt, chaotic and inflationary tariffs,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a statement alongside Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass..

Wyden said he plans to offer an amendment to change some of the bill’s tariff provisions as the Senate debates the measure this week.

Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego said before the meeting that he was still undecided on his final vote because of the tariff issue. He said he would hear Zelenskyy’s appeal and then make “a decision on the timing of the game.”