US Senator Lindsey Graham warned that US President Donald Trump will impose heavy tariffs on countries such as India, China, and Brazil if they continue importing discounted Russian oil.
The Republican lawmaker said the Trump administration was planning to impose a 100 per cent tariff on oil-related imports, fueling Russian President Vladimir Putin's campaign against Kyiv. NDTV reports, Graham had earlier proposed a bill calling for 500 per cent tariffs on goods from countries continuing to trade with Russia, including India and China.
In an interview with Fox News, Graham said, “ Trump is going to impose tariffs on people that buy Russian oil - China, India, and Brazil... Here's what I would tell China, India and Brazil: If you keep buying cheap Russian oil to allow this war to continue, we're going to tear up the hell out of you, and we're going to crush your economy.”
Claiming that the three countries account for around 80 per cent of Russia's crude exports, which has kept "Putin's war machine going", he added that, “What you (India, China and Brazil) are doing is blood money...He's (Putin) not going to stop until somebody makes him stop."
Addressing Russia directly, he said, “The game has changed when it comes to you, President Putin. You have played President Trump at your own peril. You made a major league mistake, and your economy is going to continue to be crushed." He claimed that Russian President Putin was trying to rebuild the soviet union.
"Putin wants to take countries that are not his. In the mid-90s, Ukraine gave up 1,700 nuclear weapons with a promise that its sovereignty would be respected by Russia. Putin broke that promise," the Republican said to Fox News.
The remarks followed President Trump's announcement that he supported levying high tariffs on nations that still purchase Russian gas and oil.
Trump said that unless a peace agreement with Russia is reached within the next 50 days, the United States would consider imposing 100 per cent tariffs on such countries, speaking from the Oval Office with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Reportedly, Trump criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying, “He fooled Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden – he didn’t fool me." He added that tariffs were intended to pressure Russia into negotiations.
According to News 1, in defence of its stance, India, one of the biggest consumers of Russian oil since the start of the conflict, has pointed to affordability and national energy security.
Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar recently admitted that Indian officials have spoken with Senator Graham about the proposed legislation.
Trump and NATO
Trump previously pledged to end the war on the first day of his second term, and the venomous comments appear to reflect the administration's mounting annoyance with Putin's lack of interest in doing so. With Russia stepping up its drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, the war is becoming worse almost seven months after Trump's return to the White House.
Trump, fed up with Moscow's unwillingness to negotiate a truce, this week announced fresh weapons for Ukraine and warned to impose "biting" secondary tariffs of 100% on Russian oil customers unless a peace agreement is reached within 50 days. Following this, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte threatened countries such as Brazil, China and India with secondary sanctions if they continued to conduct business with Russia.
Rutte added, "My encouragement to these three countries... please make the phone call to Vladimir Putin and tell him that he has to get serious about peace talks, because otherwise this will slam back on Brazil, on India and on China in a massive way."
