The President Donald Trump-led US administration is reportedly planning to impose tough new sanctions on Russia amid the ongoing bid to end the war between Russia and Ukraine that started in 2022.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Trump during a meeting with him on Wednesday, “greenlit” the Russia sanctions bill that has been in the works for months, Associated Press reported.
“After a very productive meeting today with President Trump on a variety of issues, he greenlit the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill,” Graham was quoted as saying. He expressed hope for a strong ‘bipartisan vote ‘as early as next week.
‘Leverage against China, India’
Graham said the bill would allow President Trump to “punish countries” that buy cheap Russian oil, which he said is being used to fuel Putin’s war machine. He further added that the legislation would provide “tremendous leverage against countries like China, India and Brazil to incentivize them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil that provides the financing for Putin’s bloodbath against Ukraine.”
Earlier, Graham had hinted that Trump has approved the bill. However, it ran into additional obstacles.
“This will be well-timed, as Ukraine is making concessions for peace and Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent,” Graham was quoted as saying.
The bill is primarily drafted by Graham and Senator Richard Blumenthal and it allows the administration to impose tariffs and secondary sanctions on countries that purchase Russia’s oil, gas, uranium and other exports in an attempt to cut off finances for Russia’s military actions in Ukraine, according to AP.
Solving the Ukraine-Russia crisis has been on Trump’s agenda as he pledged to end the war on his first day in office and the Trump administration is now trying to negotiate peace between the two countries. Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law are as the US president’s chief negotiators.
The passage of sanctions bill in the US Congress, according to Bloomberg, has been long-stalled as Trump previously suggested he wanted to secure the peace deal between the two with diplomatic efforts.
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