The legislation allows President Donald Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100% on major buyers of Russian oil and gas<\/p>\n
The major US sanctions law signed by President Donald Trump this week will undermine efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict through diplomacy, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which authorizes tougher restrictions on Moscow and tariffs of up to 100% on major buyers of Russian oil and gas.<\/p>\n
\u201cClearly, this cannot have a positive effect,\u201d Peskov told RIA Novosti on Saturday when asked how the law would affect prospects for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine and a possible \u201cbreakthrough\u201d in Russian-US relations.<\/p>\n
Named after the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a vocal supporter of Ukraine who co-authored the original bill with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal in 2025, the legislation remained stalled for months as Trump pursued diplomacy with Russia and resisted placing sole blame for the conflict on Moscow. Trump\u2019s envoys also discussed normalizing economic ties with their Russian counterparts.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Trump signs new Russia sanctions bill<\/p>\n
The Senate passed the measure 86-11 last month, followed by the House on Wednesday in a 262-159 vote.<\/p>\n
The original proposal threatened tariffs of 500% on countries purchasing Russian energy, but the maximum rate was reduced to 100% after negotiations with the White House. Graham, who died unexpectedly in July, had promoted the measure as \u201csanctions from hell\u201d intended to deliver a \u201cbone-crushing\u201d blow to Moscow.<\/p>\n
The version adopted by Congress targets major buyers of Russian oil and gas, with China and India expected to be among those potentially affected. It also gives Trump broad discretion over the application of the tariffs, including the ability to waive or suspend restrictions in the national interest.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Beijing slams new US sanctions against Russia<\/p>\n
Peskov previously described the bill as an \u201cunfriendly action\u201d that would \u201ccomplicate efforts to find a peaceful settlement in Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Russian Embassy in the US said the legislation had done \u201ca grand disservice\u201d to Trump\u2019s \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d agenda, arguing that restricting Russian energy trade amid sharply reduced Middle Eastern supplies could send fuel prices soaring ahead of the midterm elections. It warned that confrontation with Russia and China would be a \u201close-lose situation\u201d benefiting only \u201cEuro-Atlantic warmongers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun also condemned the new law, saying that China \u201ccarries out economic and trade cooperation with countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefit\u201d and that its trade was not directed against any third country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The legislation allows President Donald Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100% on major buyers of Russian oil and gas The major US sanctions law signed by President Donald…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38486,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t