Athira Sethu
Kochi, 8 Jan 2026
According to US Senator Lindsey Graham, President Donald Trump has approved a new bipartisan bill aimed at putting pressure on countries which continue buying oil from Russia-India, China, and Brazil being among them. The bill is intended to reduce Russia’s income from oil sales, which, according to the US, helps Russia keep waging its war against Ukraine.
The proposed legislation is titled the Sanctioning of Russia Act 2025, whereby one of the stringent actions proposed is hiking import duties on Russian goods entering the United States. If it is passed into law, all Russian imports will attract a duty of at least 500 percent. The imposition of such a tariff would ultimately make Russian products highly expensive and unsellable in the US market.
Senator Graham added that Trump supported the bill after a recent meeting with Trump. He explained that the bill, whose core purpose is that the US will have strong economic power to act against countries that buy discounted Russian oil, would thereby contribute to Russia’s military activities. The bill is likely to be brought up for a bipartisan vote as early as next week and Graham thinks it will get support from both major political parties.
Timing-wise, the bill is also significant. Graham noted that “the Ukrainians are ready to offer some concessions for a peace settlement, and Russia is still engaged in military actions.” The US believes that harsher sanctions will compel Russia to negotiate.
At the same time, efforts to resolve the crisis are also ongoing through diplomacy. The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, recently had a meeting with representatives from the US to find a solution to stop the war between the two countries via dialogue and negotiations.
Trump has also talked about the Indian scenario. He stated that the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is dissatisfied with the high US tariffs on his products. The reason why the US imposed the tariffs is because of the consistent purchase of Russian oil by India. Trump said that he has a very good relationship with PM Modi, though the tariff problem creates some rift.
However, India rejected the claim made by Trump that it had agreed to stop purchasing Russian oil. The Indian government explained that it did not make such an agreement. The position of India has always been that it imports its fuels based on its interests, affordability, and managing the growing price of fuels across the world.
This bill, if passed, would have implications for world energy transactions and would add to the pressure groups facing countries dependent on Russian oil.
