US senator: Trump backs sanctions bill to hit buyers of Russian oil

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said that President Donald Trump has approved a bipartisan bill aimed at tightening pressure on Russia by targeting countries that continue to buy discounted Russian oil.

In a post on X, Graham said he had held a “very productive meeting” with Trump covering a range of issues, including the sanctions legislation he has been developing for months with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal and other lawmakers.

“This will be well-timed, as Ukraine is making concessions for peace and Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent,” Graham wrote.

The proposed bill would give Trump the authority to impose penalties on countries that purchase Russian oil, which Graham said helps finance Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine.

“This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries who buy cheap Russian oil, fueling Putin’s war machine,” he said, adding that it would provide the U.S. president with “tremendous leverage” over major buyers such as China, India and Brazil.

Graham said the aim was to push those countries to stop importing Russian oil by increasing the economic cost of doing so.

“I look forward to a strong bipartisan vote, hopefully as early as next week,” he said.

In November, China purchased almost half of Russia’s crude oil exports, while India accounted for around 38 per cent, according to analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Brazil, which significantly increased its imports of subsidised Russian oil following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, has seen those purchases decline sharply in recent months.

The latest US efforts to intensify pressure on Russia come as Moscow and Kyiv engage in Washington-mediated talks aimed at ending the nearly four-year conflict.

On January 6, the Trump administration signalled its support for European proposals for binding security guarantees for Ukraine for the first time, including post-war truce monitoring and a European-led multinational force.

Russia, which has repeatedly insisted it will not accept the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine, has yet to indicate whether it would back such security arrangements.

By Aghakazim Guliyev