US President Donald Trump supported the adoption of a bill with "crushing" sanctions against Russia and allowed Iran to be included in it, reportsREUTERS .
"Any country that does business with Russia will be subject to very tough sanctions. <...> They could add Iran to that," the American leader said.
The bill in question was introduced by Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal in April. It calls for the introduction of 500 percent tariffs on imports from countries purchasing Russianoil , gas, uranium and other products if Russia does not agree to a long-term peace with Ukraine.
The Treasury Department stated that if "devastating sanctions" are introduced, Russia will diversify its supplies of goods banned from export to the United States.
Senators had planned to pass the measure before the G7 summit in mid-June 2025, but progress on the bill was temporarily halted amid Trump's statements about resolving the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune announced in October that consideration of the measure was on hold until Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The leaders agreed to the meeting during a phone call on October 16, and it was expected to take place in Budapest. No exact date was announced.
However, a week later, Trump announced he had canceled the meeting. "I didn't think we were going to get to where we needed to get to. So I canceled it. But we'll do it in the future," he explained.
Putin said the meeting was postponed rather than cancelled.
Thune said Republicans were prepared to bring the sanctions bill to a vote, but would do so "in coordination with the White House."
Politico wrote that the adoption of this initiative could disrupt US ties with major trading partners, including Europe.
Moscow considers Western sanctions illegal. The Kremlin noted that the country's economy "operates under a huge number of restrictions," and therefore has developed a "certain immunity" to this effect.
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