Trump weighs new sanctions as Congress targets Russian oil
The USA has prepared a new package of sanctions against Russia, which are to be approved by Congress and the White House. As Keith Kellogg, the special representative of President Donald Trump for Russia and Ukraine, stated, the sanctions are intended to be "burdensome" for the Russian economy, particularly targeting the oil sector.
Keith Kellogg, the special representative of the U.S. President for Ukraine and Russia, has announced that the United States is ready to implement new sanctions against Russia. In an interview with Fox News, he emphasised that the "Russian Sanctions Act 2025" is already prepared and awaits approval by Congress and the White House.
Sanctions will target the oil sector
Kellogg explained that the new sanctions will be "quite burdensome" for Russia. They include, among other measures, imposing a 500 per cent tariff on oil imports to the USA. "Russia is an oil state, and most of its revenues come from the petrochemical industry. It is precisely this sector that the new sanctions target," Kellogg added. He thus confirmed earlier announcements regarding the historically record-high tariff.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, expressed support for the sanctions bill, which was introduced to the Senate by Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal. "There's many members of Congress that want us to sanction Russia as strongly as we can. And I’m an advocate of that," Johnson emphasised.
Trump hesitates with the decision
Despite Congress's readiness, U.S. President Donald Trump is still hesitating to decide on imposing the sanctions. According to "Politico," Trump is losing patience with Vladimir Putin but is unsure about applying severe measures. His attitude towards the Kremlin leader has changed. While at the beginning of his presidency, he openly admired Putin, in recent weeks, in light of Russia's ongoing brutal strikes on Ukraine, he has become more critical of the Russian president. He even stated that Putin is "crazy" and "playing with fire."
