- Trump warns countries trading with Russia will face severe new U.S. sanctions.
- Senate pushes tougher measures, including massive tariffs on Russian oil resales.
- Bipartisan bill targets nations funding Russia’s war by buying discounted energy.
U.S. President Donald Trump has cautioned that any nation engaging in trade with Russia will face severe sanctions, as his administration and Republican legislators move forward with sanctions laws targeting Moscow.
During a conversation with reporters on Sunday, Trump expressed his backing for stricter penalties on Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin. “I hear they're doing that, and that’s okay with me,” he said. “They are passing legislation. The Republicans are putting in legislation—Very tough sanctions on any country doing business with Russia. They may add Iran to that. I suggested it.”
“So any country that does business with Russia will be very severely sanctioned. We may add Iran to the formula,” added Trump.
The government has implemented some of the highest tariffs globally, featuring a 50 percent tariff on India and a 25 percent tariff linked to its acquisitions of Russian energy. On Capitol Hill, senators are advocating for stronger actions. A proposal put forth by Senator Lindsey Graham seeks a 500 percent tariff on the secondary buying and reselling of Russian oil, a measure that enjoys widespread backing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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Graham and Senator Richard Blumenthal have introduced the Sanctioning Russia Act, aiming for secondary tariffs and sanctions against “countries that continue to fund Putin’s barbaric war in Ukraine".
The legislation has secured 85 Senate cosponsors, reported PTI. In a joint statement released in July, the senators said, “President Trump and his team have made a powerful move, implementing a new approach to end this bloodbath between Russia and Ukraine... However, the ultimate hammer to bring about the end of this war will be tariffs on countries such as China, India and Brazil, that prop up Putin’s war machine by purchasing cheap Russian oil and gas.”