“We are very grateful to the US Senate and to everyone who supports Ukraine,” President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote Friday after senators overwhelmingly approved new sanctions legislation targeting Russia and Iran. The Senate voted 86-11 to pass the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, a bipartisan measure championed by the late Republican senator from South Carolina. The bill now heads to the House of Representatives.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Zelensky framed the vote as part of a broader effort to increase pressure on Moscow as Ukraine urgently seeks more Patriot interceptor missiles against Russian ballistic attacks. Economic pressure and air defense In his message, Zelensky directly linked the sanctions push in Washington to one of Ukraine’s most urgent defense needs: additional missiles for its Patriot air defense systems. “Now, when Putin is making his final bet on ballistic missiles to drag out the war, and when we are searching every nook and cranny so hard for Patriot missiles to protect ourselves, every signal in support of defending lives and bringing the war to an end as soon as possible is extremely important,” Zelensky wrote. He argued that sustained economic pressure could also create conditions for diplomacy. “Real, strong American pressure and sanctions against Russia are what will help the most. Diplomacy comes closer with every step of pressure on the aggressor.”