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Kolkata: On June 29, US Senator Lindsey Graham said in an interview with ABC News that US President Donald Trump has approved a Senate bill which could lead to the imposition of tariffs as high as 500 per cent on countries buying Russian oil and energy products. Notably, countries like India and China buy oil from Russia.
Senator Graham claimed that in the interview, he had been told by Trump that the sanctions bill should be brought forward for a vote. Notably, the senator himself is sponsoring the new sanctions bill on Russia, which aims to dent Vladimir Putin's country financially.
As per Graham, this decision of Trump is "a big breakthrough", and it is a part of efforts to force Russian President Putin to negotiate with Ukraine. The senator is anticipating that the new bill will enable Trump to bring Russia to the negotiation table.
Graham told ABC News, "Big breakthrough here. So what does this bill do? If you’re buying products from Russia and you’re not helping Ukraine, then there’s a 500% tariff on your products coming into the United States. India and China buy 70% of Putin’s oil. They keep his war machine going." He also mentioned a waiver that Trump had and could decide whether or not to sign it into law if Congress passes it.
Earlier, Graham said in an interview, "I’ve got 84 co-sponsors for a Russian sanctions bill that is an economic bunker buster against China, India, and Russia for Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. I think that bill’s going to pass."
As per the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, in May 2025, India emerged as the second-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels. The Centre estimated that India's fossil fuel purchase from Russia was worth €4.2 billion in May, with crude oil making up 72 per cent of the total purchase.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has commented on Graham's statements and said that Russia is aware of the development. He said, “The senator’s views are well known to us, they are well known to the whole world. He belongs to a group of inveterate Russophobes. If it were up to him, these sanctions would have been imposed long ago. Would that have helped the (Ukraine) settlement process? That is a question that those who initiate such events should ask themselves."
