Trump threatens severe penalties for Russian oil trade

New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump has warned that any country doing business with Russia will face very severe sanctions, as his administration and Republican lawmakers push ahead with tough new legislation against Moscow.

Responding to reporters on Sunday about whether Congress should pass stronger measures to pressure Russia and President Vladimir Putin, Trump said he had no objection. “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,” Trump added, repeating that any nation trading with Russia would be “very severely sanctioned”.

The Trump administration has already imposed a 50 per cent tariff on India, one of the highest in the world, including a 25 per cent levy on Indian purchases of Russian energy.

A new bill introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham proposes a massive 500 per cent tariff on secondary purchases and reselling of Russian oil, with near- unanimous support in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Graham and Senator Richard Blumenthal have also brought forward the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, which aims to place secondary tariffs and sanctions on countries “that continue to fund Putin’s barbaric war in Ukraine”. The bill currently has 85 Senate cosponsors.

In a joint statement issued 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 end this war will be tariffs on countries, like China, India and Brazil, that prop up Putin’s war machine by purchasing cheap Russian oil and gas.”