Graham Says Trump Blessed Russia Sanctions Bill
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., issued a statement Jan. 7 saying that he hopes there will be a vote on the Russia sanctions bill (see 2512190029 and 2601050050) "as early as next week."
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"After a very productive meeting today with President [Donald] Trump on a variety of issues, he greenlit the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that I have been working on for months with Senator [Richard] Blumenthal and many others.
"This will be well-timed, as Ukraine is making concessions for peace and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent.
"This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries who buy cheap Russian oil fueling Putin’s war machine.
"This bill would give President Trump tremendous leverage against countries like China, India and Brazil to incentivize them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil that provides the financing for Putin’s bloodbath against Ukraine."
Turkey is the top buyer of Russian oil products and the third-largest buyer of Russian crude oil. Trump has said there is no need to hike tariffs on China, since they are already high. He already doubled tariffs on Indian goods over oil purchases.
Japan and South Korea also are top-five buyers of Russian liquified natural gas and coal, respectively.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told us earlier in the week that he "probably" still wants the House to go first on the bill. The House bill that is awaiting enough signatures from both parties to force a vote does not include tariffs, only sanctions.