US President Donald Trump is prepared to approve a bill that would heavily penalize countries conducting trade with Russia, according to a Wednesday report by Politico citing a high-ranking administration source.
The proposed legislation, championed by Senator Lindsey Graham, seeks to implement a massive 500% tariff on any country importing Russian oil, natural gas, uranium, or other key exports. While the bill allows the president to temporarily waive the sanctions for up to six months, Trump reportedly wants full discretion over such exemptions, without congressional interference.
“The administration will not allow Congress to micromanage the president’s foreign policy decisions. We need complete waiver authority,” the official said, while noting that, overall, the president is open to supporting the legislation.
Graham announced on Tuesday that a Senate vote on the bill is imminent. “The bill gives President Trump maximum leverage through its waiver mechanism,” he wrote on X. The New York Times has reported the vote may take place before the end of the month.
Momentum behind the bill has increased as Trump escalates his rhetoric against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, renewed attempts at peace talks between Moscow and Kiev have failed to reach a breakthrough.
Russia maintains that any peace deal must address what it calls the underlying causes of the conflict – including NATO’s expansion and Ukraine’s goal of joining the alliance, which Moscow considers a national security threat.
“We are not interested in a temporary pause that the Kiev regime and its foreign backers could exploit to regroup, draft new troops, and rebuild military strength,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Hungary’s Magyar Nemzet earlier this week.
President Putin has called for Ukraine to accept Russia’s revised borders and embrace a status of neutrality with strict limitations on its armed forces. Lavrov added that Russia is currently seeking to organize a third round of direct peace negotiations with Ukraine, possibly in Türkiye.
