Sen. Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin GrahamSenate Republicans signal openness to working with Biden Loeffler calls for hearing in wake of Netflix's 'Cuties' Quinnipiac poll shows Graham, Harrison tied in South Carolina Senate race MORE (R-S.C.) said Friday that he will expand a Russia sanctions bill to include penalizing Russian President Vladimir Putin's assistance to the Assad regime in Syria.

"I want to amend my own bill and add supporting Assad — the use of weapons of mass destruction [and] enabling him to do that — as a reason he should be sanctioning Putin," Graham said when asked if he thought Russia sanctions should be include assistance for the Syrian government.

Graham introduced legislation earlier this year that would require congressional approval before Trump could lift Russia sanctions tied to the November election or its activities in Ukraine.

The GOP senator is supporting legislation that would impose new sanctions against Russia for its election meddling and activities in Ukraine and Syria.

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The legislation also expresses the sense of Congress that the "international community should conduct a full investigation into allegations that the Russian Federation committed war crimes through its military actions in Syria."

Graham's statement comes after the U.S. launched a missile strike Thursday night targeting an airfield near the city of Homs, Syria, in retaliation for a deadly chemical attack that U.S. and other Western officials have attributed to Syrian leader Bashar Assad's government. The U.S. strike killed nine.

Russia, an ally of Assad's in the country's years-long civil war, called the U.S. airstrike an "act of aggression."

Russian news agency Tass reported Friday that Russia is deploying a missile-armed frigate to the Mediterranean Sea, where two U.S. destroys fired the missiles targeting the Syrian airbase, as part of a “routine voyage.”

The House passed legislation late last year to slap new sanctions on anyone who provides financial, material or technological support to the Syrian government, a category that would include Russia. The legislation wasn't taken up by the Senate before the end of the year.

But asked about Putin's continued aid to the Assad regime, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellSenate Republicans signal openness to working with Biden Hillicon Valley: DOJ indicts Chinese, Malaysian hackers accused of targeting over 100 organizations | GOP senators raise concerns over Oracle-TikTok deal | QAnon awareness jumps in new poll The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden asks if public can trust vaccine from Trump ahead of Election Day | Oklahoma health officials raised red flags before Trump rally MORE (R-Ky.) told reporters on Friday that he's "open" to new Russia sanctions.

"If [the administration] feel they need additional sanctions, or we can come up with something that seems to enjoy bipartisan support, I'd be open to it," he told reporters.