Trump "greenlit" bill on sanctions against Russia, - Graham
US President Donald Trump has agreed to support a bill to strengthen sanctions against Russia, particularly with regard to its oil revenues.
According to Censor.NET, this was announced by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on social media platform X.
The vote on the bill could take place as early as next week.
According to Graham, Trump "greenlit" this bill after their meeting on Wednesday.
The document, which Graham has been working on for several months with Republicans and Democrats, provides for sanctions against countries cooperating with Russia, including buyers of its energy resources, due to Moscow's refusal to negotiate a peaceful settlement of the war in Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
"This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries who buy cheap Russian oil fueling Putin’s war machine," Graham said, naming China, India and Brazil as possible targets.
Graham is counting on bipartisan support for the bill
The South Carolina senator said he expects a "strong bipartisan vote" on the bill, which could take place as early as next week.
The leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives has so far refrained from putting the document to a vote because Trump preferred to impose tariffs on goods imported from India, the world's second-largest buyer of Russian oil after China, Reuters notes.
Graham-Blumenthal bill
Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal have submitted a bill to the US Senate that would put additional pressure on Russia by imposing sanctions on countries that buy its energy resources.
The main provisions of the bill are:
- freezing of assets and a ban on transactions for senior Russian officials, military personnel, oligarchs and other individuals who support the military;
- a 500% tariff on imports into the US from countries that purchase Russian oil, gas, uranium and other products;
- the introduction of sanctions against key banks, such as the Central Bank of Russia, Sberbank and Gazprombank, while prohibiting US institutions from conducting transactions with Russia and restricting Russian organisations from listing securities on US stock exchanges;
- prohibiting the export of energy products from the US to Russia and investments in the Russian energy sector, and imposing secondary sanctions against foreign companies that support energy production in Russia, including the oil, gas and uranium sectors.
