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India, China ‘main culprits’, key targets of Russia sanctions bill: US senator
The Lindsey Graham sanctions bill, named after its co-author and the late US senator, will not hit any of US’ allies, Senator Roger Wicker said.
The US bill to advance sweeping sanctions on major buyers of Russian energy has been carefully crafted to mainly target and impose tariffs up to 100 per cent on India and China, both of which are the “main culprits” in fuelling Moscow’s war machine, US Senator Roger Wicker said.
The Lindsey Graham sanctions bill, named after its co-author and the late US senator, will not hit any of US’ allies, Wicker said. The controversial bill was advanced during a procedural vote by the senators on Tuesday.
“It is carefully crafted to make sure we are not hitting our allies and that we are hitting China and India,” he said at a press briefing.
“Let's be really blunt. China and India are the main culprits here. They purchase the vast majority of oil and gas, they are fuelling Russia's war machine and they are doing us no favours anywhere else in the world," he added.
The Senate voted 86-12 on Tuesday to invoke the cloture motion to advance the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, hours after they gathered to bid a final farewell to the Senator from South Carolina, who passed away on July 11.
The vote came hours after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington to meet US President Donald Trump and press for stronger action against Moscow.
Zelensky also attended the funeral of Graham, one of Kyiv's most vocal allies in Congress.
The US bill to advance sweeping sanctions on major buyers of Russian energy has been carefully crafted to mainly target and impose tariffs up to 100 per cent on India and China, both of which are the “main culprits” in fuelling Moscow’s war machine, US Senator Roger Wicker said.
The Lindsey Graham sanctions bill, named after its co-author and the late US senator, will not hit any of US’ allies, Wicker said. The controversial bill was advanced during a procedural vote by the senators on Tuesday.
“It is carefully crafted to make sure we are not hitting our allies and that we are hitting China and India,” he said at a press briefing.
Also Read: 2026 could be landmark year for India-EU ties, courtesy China, US and Russia
“Let's be really blunt. China and India are the main culprits here. They purchase the vast majority of oil and gas, they are fuelling Russia's war machine and they are doing us no favours anywhere else in the world," he added.
Apart from China and India, the other top purchasers of Russian oil are Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan.
The Senate voted 86-12 on Tuesday to invoke the cloture motion to advance the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, hours after they gathered to bid a final farewell to the Senator from South Carolina, who passed away on July 11.
Also Read: India lands at 10% under US-forced labour tariff, escapes steeper 12.5%
Cloture refers to a formal procedure of the Senate to set a time limit for the debate and related actions on an issue before it is put to a final vote.
The vote came hours after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington to meet US President Donald Trump and press for stronger action against Moscow. Zelensky also attended the funeral of Graham, one of Kyiv's most vocal allies in Congress.
The bill is largely expected to pass in the 100-member Senate but may run into some resistance in the House, where Democrats are not keen to expand Trump's tariff authority.
“It is extremely dangerous to give Trump massive new tariff powers, particularly after we've seen the disastrous impacts of his corrupt, chaotic, and inflationary tariff spree,” House Ways and Means ranking member Richard Neal and Senate Finance ranking member Ron Wyden said in a statement.
The Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 seeks to impose primary and secondary sanctions against Russia and actors supporting its war in Ukraine.
The sanctions target Russian officials, oligarchs, their family members, foreign persons and Russian banks and financial institutions, as well as the Russian Shadow Fleet.
The bill allows the president to impose targeted tariffs on imported goods from countries that buy the vast majority of Russian oil or gas and enable Russian sanctions evasion.
Section 113 of the bill specifically targets the five countries that purchase the largest volumes of Russian fuel or facilitate sanctions evasion through shadow fleets, threatening them with additional 100 per cent tariffs.
