New York/Washington, Nov 17: US President Donald Trump has issued a stark warning that any nation conducting business with Russia will face “very severely sanctioned” penalties, as the administration and Republican lawmakers advance sweeping new legislation aimed at tightening economic pressure on Moscow.
Responding to questions from reporters on Sunday about whether Congress should intensify its efforts to pressure Russia and President Vladimir Putin, Trump signaled full support. “I hear they’re doing that, and that’s okay with me,” he said. “They’re passing legislation… the Republicans are putting in legislation… very tough sanctioning… on any country doing business with Russia. They may add Iran to that… I suggested it.”
Reiterating the administration’s stance, Trump said, “So any country that does business with Russia will be very severely sanctioned. We may add Iran to the formula.”
The Trump administration has already imposed steep tariffs on India — among the highest globally — including 25 per cent duties on purchases of Russian energy. A bill introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham proposes a 500 per cent tariff on the secondary purchase and resale of Russian oil, a measure that reportedly has near-unanimous support in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Graham and Senator Richard Blumenthal have also jointly introduced the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, which seeks to penalize countries “that continue to fund Putin’s barbaric war in Ukraine” through secondary tariffs and sanctions. The bill has garnered 85 cosponsors in the Senate.
In a joint statement released in July, Graham and Blumenthal said, “President Trump and his team have made a powerful move, implementing a new approach to end this bloodbath between Russia and Ukraine… However, the ultimate hammer to bring about the end of this war will be tariffs against countries, like China, India and Brazil, that prop up Putin’s war machine by purchasing cheap Russian oil and gas.”