US Senator Lindsey Graham has died on Saturday evening after a “brief and sudden illness”, the communications director for his office said in a post on X early on Sunday.
A senior Republican senator from South Carolina and close Trump ally, Graham was a prominent voice on US foreign policy and national security.
During a visit to Kiev days before his death, he urged China to use its influence over Moscow to help end the Ukraine war, arguing that the path to peace ran through Beijing and that greater pressure could push Russian President Vladimir Putin towards negotiations.
Graham also backed tougher sanctions targeting Russia and countries buying Russian energy.
Graham was a staunch supporter of Israel and strongly backed its genocidal war in Gaza, repeatedly defending its military actions.
