The United States Senate has given its approval this Friday to a bill of sanctions against Russia that contemplates the possibility of imposing tariffs on China, India, and other states that buy oil and gas from Moscow, in addition to expanding punitive measures against Iran.
The proposal, promoted by the late Senator Lindsey Graham, has been approved with 86 favorable votes and eleven against, although it still needs the support of the House of Representatives to become law.
With this text, the U.S. president, Donald Trump, would be enabled to set a 100% tax on the five largest importers of Russian crude oil and natural gas, as well as on the five countries that collaborate the most with Moscow to circumvent the energy sanctions already in force.
Furthermore, the initiative empowers the occupant of the White House to apply a general tariff of 500% on exports of Russian products, a power that Trump could exercise for a maximum of five years, according to information released by the news agency Bloomberg.
The bill also provides for extending the Iran Sanctions Act until 2031, which imposes economic penalties on non-U.S. companies that do business with Tehran and which, if not modified, would expire this year.
Since the beginning of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United States has been approving multiple rounds of sanctions against Russia, focused on its financial system, energy sector, and other strategic areas.
The mayor of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, has applauded the result of the Senate vote as "an important step to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression."
In a message disseminated on social media, he expressed his confidence that the House of Representatives will adopt the same stance "soon" and that President Trump "will enact it," while attributing the "merit" of the bill to Senator Graham, whom he defined as "a true friend of Ukraine."