US President Donald Trump has reportedly “greenlit” a bill to impose fresh sanctions of up to 500 per cent on India and China for buying fuel from Russia.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham confirmed on Wednesday that Trump’s bipartisan bill followed a “very productive” meeting.
“This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries that buy cheap Russian oil, fuelling Putin’s war machine,” Graham said.
“It would give President Trump incredible control against countries like China, India, and Brazil to incentivise them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil that is funding the Russian war economy,” he added.
India and China are two of the largest buyers of Russia’s oil, even though Moscow’s energy sector remains under heavy sanctions from the US, EU and the UK, in response to its war against Ukraine.
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As per estimates by think tanks, China alone purchased about half of Russia’s oil exports in November, while India bought 38 per cent of Moscow’s total oil exports. Brazil ranks third with significant oil purchases, though it has substantially reduced them in recent months.
The bill, titled ‘Sanctions Act’, has been drafted with assistance from Democrat Richard Blumenthal in a move aimed at increasing pressure on Russia to disengage with Ukraine while US mediates with a peace plan.
It comes after the Trump administration extended its full backing to EU proposals for binding security guarantees for Ukraine.
Russia has time and again rejected the idea of “peacekeepers” to be deployed in Ukraine, and said it would consider them to be legitimate military targets if installed without Russian consent.
The US is now viewing the sanctions bill as a “well-timed” intervention, with Graham saying “Ukraine is making concessions for peace” while “Putin is all talk” and “continuing to kill the innocent”.
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