The president Donald Trump signed on Friday a historic sanctions package aimed at Russia that tightens the economic noose around Moscow, targeting Putin's ghost fleet —used to maintain the flow of his oil despite Western sanctions—and trade partners like China and India.
Thus, the legislation grants Trump the authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on goods from the five largest buyers of Russian oil and natural gas, exerting significant economic pressure on countries that continue to help finance the Kremlin through energy purchases.
The measure is designed to attack the enormous oil and gas revenues that have helped Russia finance its war machine during these nearly five years of war in Ukraine. The bill, pushed by the late Republican Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, was approved by the US Congress by a wide margin.
Trump enacted a historic package of sanctions and tariffs against Russia in honor of Lindsay Graham
Graham was a long-time staunch supporter of the Ukrainian cause and passed away suddenly in July after just returning from a visit to the war-torn country. Since then, the legislation —which also includes and expands existing sanctions against the terrorist regime of Iran—has been renamed to carry his name in his honor.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, described the legislation as "crucial" and thanked Trump for signing it. For its part, the Kremlin, through its spokesman Dmitry Peskov, had urged the US president this week not to sign the bill.
The war is entering its fifth year and there are no signs of it ending. Russia is daily launching massive attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities with drones and missiles, while Zelensky's army is increasingly focused on attacking Russian oil infrastructure with long-range drones, contributing to a nationwide fuel shortage.
