Risch, Shaheen, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Sanction Russian Energy Sector, Shadow Fleet

WASHINGTON- U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, alongside Senators Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), today introduced the Sanctioning Harbors and Dodgers of Western Sanctions or SHADOW Fleets Act. This bill will vastly expand U.S. sanctions authorities to target a collection of older, reflagged oil tankers that Russia uses to circumvent existing U.S. sanctions on Russian oil and energy revenues. This collection of oil tankers is known as the Russian shadow fleet. The SHADOW Fleets Act builds upon President Trump's work to discourage countries from purchasing Russian oil, which fuels the Russian economy and Putin's war.

"Putin will use every trick in the book to evade U.S. sanctions, and the U.S. is cracking down on this illicit shadow fleet of ships that he uses to fund his war. These ships and the oil sales they facilitate directly threaten American and European security, and will be stopped," said Chairman Risch.

"This is a clear bipartisan signal that action must be taken by Congress to finally bring this war to an end. Ukraine has been holding the line against Putin for more than 3 years - deterring and preventing Russian aggression against NATO," said Ranking Member Shaheen. "We must use all tools at our disposal to stand with Ukraine including sanctioning Russia's shadow fleet to choke off funds to Putin's war machine. Our allies have sanctioned hundreds more shadow fleet vessels than the United States - this legislation would force the Trump Administration to bridge that gap. We cannot wait a moment longer to starve Putin from funding streams that continue his illegal war on Ukraine. I am proud to co-lead this critical piece of bipartisan legislation to force Putin to the negotiating table and end this war."

"Russia is using its shadow fleet to evade sanctions, sell cheap oil to Communist China, and fund Putin's war machine. Tightening sanctions on these illicit vessels will strengthen our economic and national security," said Senator Cotton.

"For too long, Vladimir Putin has dodged U.S. sanctions and bankrolled his assault on Ukraine through covert shipping networks," said Senator Whitehouse, a lead sponsor of the bipartisan REPO for Ukrainians Act. "This bipartisan bill will directly target Russia's shadow fleet and its enablers, pinch off Putin's remaining oil lifeline, and support Ukrainian victory."

"Vladimir Putin continues to fund his war of aggression by evading oil sanctions through his illicit shadow fleet of reflagged oil tankers. President Trump has repeatedly emphasized the importance of squeezing Russian oil revenues to put pressure on Putin to come to the negotiating table. By expanding our sanctions regime to get after the Russian shadow fleet, this bill will weaken the Russian war machine and help bring Putin's war in Ukraine to an end," Senator Pete Ricketts.

"This bipartisan legislation critically expands sanctions against the defense industrial base within Russia and Putin's international network of unmarked shadow ships carrying oil. Scorchingb sanctions against Russia's energy sector and shadow fleet are vital to stop the illicit sales and shipments of oil and gas that finance its war machine in Ukraine," said Senator Blumenthal.

"As Putin escalates his brutal war against Ukraine, we must do everything we can to stop him," said Senator Coons. "This bill will help us ensure Putin can't continue to get windfall oil profits to fund his military operations and put more pressure on him to finally end this war."

"The failure of recent negotiations, and Putin's repeated and brazen incursions into NATO airspace, have made clear that Putin is not operating in good faith and has no interest in ending Russia's war in Ukraine. The U.S. must take steps to make it harder for Russia to evade U.S. sanctions and deter Putin from taking further actions that would threaten the U.S. or our allies in Europe," said Senator Kaine. "That's why I'm joining my colleagues in introducing this bipartisan legislation to expand sanctions on Russia's illicit shadow fleet and limit Putin's ability to finance his war."

Background:

• For far too long, Russia has been able to float its economy with massive oil and energy revenues earned through the exploitation of a porous global oil price cap and blatant evasion of Western sanctions using its "shadow fleet," a collection of older, often reflagged oil tankers used to circumvent Western sanctions on Russian oil exports.
• As tensions rise in Eastern Europe, the G7, European Union, and others are taking steps to increase sanctions enforcement.
• In response, Russia has deployed warships to escort its shadow fleet vessels through the Baltic Sea.
• This is an unprecedented escalation that increases the potential for a security or ecological incident.

The SHADOW Fleets Act will vastly expand U.S. sanctions authorities in key gaps.

This bill will target the:

1. Shadow Fleet

• Provides a list of indicators U.S. authorities may use to identify vessels supporting the Russian
• Shadow fleet, making it easier to find and sanction these vessels sooner.
• Establishes strict sanctions liability for any ship that engages in a ship-to-ship transfer with a sanctioned shadow fleet vessel.
• Further aligns our sanctions with European sanctions.

2. Russian liquid natural gas (LNG) projects

• Sanctions Russian arctic LNG projects and new Russian LNG project development

3. Russian Defense Industrial Base

• Identifies critical choke points in the Russian defense industrial base where the U.S. can effectively target sanctions and create bottlenecks for Russian defense supply chains.

4. Nord Stream II

• Ends the Nord Stream II pipeline to Europe, ending the Russian LNG relationship with Europe.

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