In a move that may have implications for India, four US Senators announced on Friday that they had reached an agreement with the Trump administration to advance legislation to impose sanctions on countries that buy Russian energy. This was announced by two Democrats and two Republicans, including Trump’s close ally Senator Lindsey Graham.
“We are proud to announce that we have reached an agreement with the Trump administration to advance our updated Russia sanctions legislation,” the four senators said in a statement. “We are very pleased with this significant progress and expect to introduce the legislation very soon. As Russia intensifies its slaughter of civilians, it is imperative that the legislative and executive branches work together to create tools to impose a high price on those who purchase Russian oil and natural gas, fueling Putin’s war machine.” Graham was joined by fellow Republican Senator Roger Wicker and Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal and Jeanne Shaheen.
The four senators were major supporters of the Russia Sanctions Act of 2025, which proposes to impose US tariffs on exports of goods and services from countries that purchase oil, natural gas, uranium, and petroleum products of Russian origin. The bill stipulates the imposition of a 500% US tariff on countries that buy Russian energy, which Senator Blumenthal described as “bone-crushing.” However, the proposed bill also allows the President of the United States to issue a 180-day waiver to a particular country if “the President determines that such a waiver is in the national security interests of the United States.” Reports in the US media indicated that the draft law underwent subsequent changes, including easing tariff provisions. However, the exact details of the changed legislation are still to be seen.
Read also: Why did the US ‘allow’ India to buy Russian oil despite tariff tensions?
The bill received significant support in the US Senate, with 84 senators co-sponsoring the legislation. It received increased attention after US President Donald Trump said he was studying the bill in an attempt to push Russia to negotiate an end to the Ukrainian war. However, despite Graham’s previous statements that Trump had agreed to support the legislation, the Russia sanctions bill has not passed more than a year after it was first introduced.
India target?
India was an obvious target for this legislation.
“To China and India: If you continue to support Putin’s war machine, you will have no one to blame but yourselves,” Senator Graham wrote in X in June 2025 regarding the legislation.
India continued to buy Russian oil after the US Treasury Department issued a general license in the wake of the US-Iran war allowing the purchase of Russian energy without imposing US sanctions. However, the license expired on June 17.
