Trump greenlights Russia sanctions bill: US senator Lindsey Graham says China, India and Brazil could face pressure over oil

US Senator Lindsey Graham said President Donald Trump has approved a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that would give the White House broader authority to target countries buying Russian oil, a move he said could strengthen US leverage as the war in Ukraine continues. Graham announced the development in a post on X after what he described as a productive meeting with Trump. He said the legislation has been in the works for months with Senator Richard Blumenthal and other lawmakers and could come up for a vote as early as next week. “After a very productive meeting today with President Trump on a variety of issues, he greenlit the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that I have been working on for months with Senator Blumenthal and many others,” Graham wrote. He said the timing of the bill was important, arguing that Ukraine was making concessions toward peace while Russia continued its military campaign. “This will be well-timed, as Ukraine is making concessions for peace, and Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent,” he said. According to Graham, the bill would allow the US president to penalise countries purchasing discounted Russian oil, which he said was helping finance Moscow’s war effort. “This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries who buy cheap Russian oil fueling Putin’s war machine,” he wrote. He added that the proposed sanctions would give Trump leverage over major buyers of Russian oil. “This bill would give President Trump tremendous leverage against countries like China, India and Brazil to incentivise them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil that provides the financing for Putin’s bloodbath against Ukraine,” Graham said. Graham said he expected strong bipartisan backing for the legislation and expressed hope that it could be taken up by the Senate as early as next week.