President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Republicans are working on legislation that will impose sanctions on any country doing business with Russia.
Newsweek contacted the Kremlin for comment by email outside of office hours.
Why It Matters
Trump has positioned himself as a “peacemaker,” determined to add the war in Ukraine to his list of conflicts that he has played a role in ending, but his efforts to nudge Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table have come to nothing.
Instead, Putin has dug in on his war goals and even intensified his attacks on Ukraine. Ukraine and its European allies have urged Trump to take tougher action in response to Russia’s recalcitrance.
Applying sanctions on countries that do business with Russia will have a wide-ranging impact including on some U.S. allies and will ramp up pressure on Russia and its struggling economy.
What To Know
Trump, asked by a reporter if it was time for Congress to legislate to put more pressure on Russia and Putin, said: “Well I hear they’re doing that, and that’s OK with me.”
“They’re passing legislation, the Republicans are, putting in legislation that – very tough, sanctioning et cetera, et cetera – on any country doing business with Russia. They may add Iran to that, as you know, I suggested it,” he said, adding, “So any country that does business with Russia will be very severely sanctioned.”
Trump held off introducing new restrictions against Russia for months but announced new sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies – Rosneft and Lukoil – on October 22, complaining that his peace talks with Putin were going nowhere.
Russia’s main energy customers are China, which dominates coal and crude oil purchases; Turkey, which dominates purchases of oil products; and the EU, which is the largest buyer of liquefied natural gas and pipeline gas, according to the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
Several U.S. allies, including Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Brazil, buy smaller amounts of Russian energy, according to CREA data.
Many countries around the world sell Russia agricultural goods, while many also buy Russian arms, including Iran, India, China, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Algeria, Egypt and Myanmar. Iran and North Korea have also supplied weapons to Russia.
What People Are Saying
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s security council and a former president, in a social media post in October: “If any of the many commentators still harbored illusions — here you go. The U.S. is our enemy, and their talkative ‘peacemaker’ has now fully taken the road to war with Russia.”
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun, responding in October to U.S. sanctions on Russia: “Dialogue and negotiation are the only feasible ways to resolve the Ukraine crisis, rather than coercion and pressure.”
What Happens Next
Trump gave no timeline for the expected sanctions legislation.
