US Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the loudest advocates for arming Ukraine and punishing Russia, died on Saturday at 71 - just one day after announcing a deal in Kyiv on a new sanctions package against Moscow. The timing is so dramatic that it immediately opened up every possible theory.

Let's be clear from the start: according to the preliminary finding, Graham died of a ruptured aorta linked to cardiovascular disease. So, a natural death, not a conspiracy - though that won't stop the speculation, especially since Russia had previously declared him an extremist and terrorist and issued a warrant for his arrest.

What is beyond dispute is the political significance. Just one day before his death, after meeting Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv - his tenth visit to Ukraine - Graham announced: „We've reached a deal with the White House on a version of the sanctions bill against Russia that it will support. That means the bill will be passed.“

The proposed bill targets countries and companies that continue to do business with Russia, especially buyers of Russian oil and gas. The idea is to use secondary sanctions to raise the cost of cooperating with Moscow and reduce the revenues that finance Russia's war.

Now the death of the bill's main driver puts it in question. Although colleagues promise to pass it „in honor of his legacy“, it's well known that laws often die together with the people who push them. The question that remains is whether Graham's idea will outlive the man, or whether it will be just another package that vanishes the moment its loudest voice falls silent.