Trump has ‘greenlit’ bilateral pressure on countries buying Russian energy exports, says Lindsey Graham.
Published on January 8, 2026
US President Donald Trump has backed a bill to impose sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil, including China and India, an influential Republican senator has said.
US Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said on Wednesday that Trump had “greenlit” the bipartisan bill after a “very productive” meeting.
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Graham’s approved Russia Act, authored with Democrat Richard Blumenthal, would give Trump the authority to impose tariffs of up to 500 percent on imports from countries that do business with Russia’s energy sector.
“This bill would allow President Trump to punish countries that buy cheap Russian oil to feed Putin’s war machine,” Graham said in a statement, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“”This bill would give President Trump tremendous leverage against countries like China, India and Brazil, and encourage them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil that finances Putin’s bloodbath against Ukraine.”
China and Russia are major buyers of Russian oil, despite US and European sanctions on the Russian energy sector in response to Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
According to an analysis by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air, China bought half of Russia’s crude oil exports in November, while India took about 38 percent. Brazil dramatically increased its purchases of subsidized Russian oil after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but those imports have fallen sharply in recent months.
The latest push by the U.S. to increase pressure on Russia comes as Moscow and Kiev hold Washington-brokered negotiations to end a nearly four-year war.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration for the first time backed European proposals for ceasefire monitoring and binding security guarantees for Ukraine, including a European-led multinational force.
Russia, which has repeatedly said it will not accept the deployment of troops from NATO member states to Ukraine, has not signaled its support for such security measures.
Graham said in a statement on his bill that the legislation is timely in light of the current situation in Ukraine.
“It will happen at the right time, because Ukraine is making concessions for peace and Putin is doing all the talking, killing innocent people,” he said.