Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who have been pushing for a Russia sanctions bill, on Monday hailed President Trump’s threat of tougher sanctions on Moscow if Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn’t wind down his country’s attacks on Ukraine in the coming weeks.
“It is long overdue for the financial backers of Russia’s atrocities in Ukraine to pay a price for buying cheap energy products and marking it up in order to benefit their economies. The days of doing this without consequences are coming to an end,” the senators said in a joint statement after Trump’s remarks at the White House. “The combination of more American-made, European-purchased weapons for Ukraine and tariffs on the financial backers of Putin’s brutal war has changed the game.”
Trump warned Russia on Monday that he’s prepared to levy 100 percent secondary economic sanctions in 50 days, which would target other nations that do business with Russia.
“We’re very, very unhappy with [Russia], and we’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in about 50 days,” Trump said during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. “We are very unhappy — I am — with Russia.”
Graham and Blumenthal have a Russia sanctions bill with more than 80 co-sponsors in the Senate. The latest version would empower Trump to impose a 500 percent tariff on imports from any nation that purchases Russian uranium, gas or oil.
“Finally, as President Trump indicated, we will join our colleagues in continuing to work with the White House on our bipartisan Russia sanctions legislation that would implement up to 500 percent tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil and gas, and do not help Ukraine,” the senators said Monday. “The congressional legislation authorizing tariffs and sanctions would truly be a sledgehammer for President Trump to end this war, and it will allow for maximum flexibility to achieve that end.”
“The benefit of our approach is that it blends congressional authorization of tariffs and sanctions with flexibility for presidential implementation, making it rock solid legally and politically,” they added.
Trump, who has previously praised Putin, has been expressing increasing frustration with Russia’s leader over what he described as disingenuous efforts to end the conflict with Ukraine. Trump campaigned on brokering a peace deal between the warring rivals last year.
He reiterated that position during Monday’s White House meeting.
“I go home and tell the first lady, ‘I spoke with Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation.’ She says, ‘Oh really? Another [Ukrainian] city was just hit,’” Trump recalled.
“We’re very, very unhappy with them and we’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days,” he said. “Tariffs at about 100 percent.”
The White House later clarified that Trump meant “secondary sanctions” and not tariffs.
“You can do tariffs or you can do sanctions, those are both tools in his toolbox,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters after the president’s remarks.
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