Donald Trump, the President of the United States, announced that the Republican Party is developing a bill that will impose sanctions on countries that have trade ties with Russia.
“I am pleased that they are actively working on this. The Republicans have proposed a tough bill that imposes sanctions on any country doing business with Russia. I also suggested including Iran in this. Thus, any countries that do business with Russia will face serious sanctions,” Trump stated.
He emphasized that the same sanctions could also affect Iran's economic partners, adding that Congress could expand the bill to prohibit cooperation with Tehran.
This initiative, presented in the spring of 2025, is a bipartisan bill developed by Republican Lindsey Graham and Democrat Richard Blumenthal. The document proposes imposing tariffs of 500% on imports from countries that purchase Russian oil, petroleum products, natural gas, or uranium. Sanctions are also planned for countries that buy uranium from Russia. More than 80 senators out of 100 supported this bill.
Lindsey Graham previously reported that Trump is ready to support the initiative, and the bill will be considered after the Senate's recess. However, in August, a meeting took place between Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska, after which, according to Bloomberg, the consideration of the bill was suspended until the planned meeting between Trump and Putin in Budapest, which was ultimately canceled.
At the end of October, John Thune, the Republican leader in the Senate, noted that his party is ready to bring the sanctions bill to a vote when the president's administration deems it necessary. On November 13, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Washington had nearly exhausted its options for imposing new restrictions against Russia.
On October 22, the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on major Russian oil companies "Lukoil" and "Rosneft." The last time such measures were taken was in January 2025 under the Biden administration. The department explained the new restrictions by citing "Russia's insufficient commitment to the peace process."
