Trump’s new warning: US to ‘very severely sanction’ any country doing business with Russia

In the latest step in his topsy-turvy Russia policy, US President Donald Trump has invoked “very severe” sanctions.

Trump on Sunday said that Republicans were working on a bill that will impose “very severe” sanctions on countries trading with Russia.

“As you know, I suggested it, so any country that does business with Russia will be very severely sanctioned. They may add Iran to that,” said Trump.

However, Trump did not address the fact —as stated by Vladimir Putin— that the US-Russia trade has increased by 20 per cent in his second term. He has also so far not imposed any sanctions or tariffs on China, which is the biggest buyer of Russian oil.

Trump has so far only imposed punitive tariff — of 25 per cent on top of pre-existing 25 per cent 'reciprocal tariff'— on India for the purchase of Russian oil, making India the highest tariffed country in the world with a minimum of 50 per cent tariffs.

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In his second term, Trump has not taken any meaningful actions —either tariffs or sanctions— against Russia for Putin’s refusal to agree to a ceasefire in the war with Ukraine. Instead, he has repeatedly walked back on his threats and ended up strengthening the Russian leader’s hand by accepting his terms.

What could be in Trump’s ‘very severe’ sanctions?

As with the case with most of his announcements, Trump did not offer any details with the announcement.

But there has been a bill in the making for months that imposes tariffs up to 500 per cent on country’s trading with Russia.

The bipartisan bill, Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, seeks to impose tariffs to the tune of 500 per cent tariffs on Russia and those countries buying Russian goods, such as oil, gas, and uranium.

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Such secondary sanctions are bound to hit countries like India and China, which are major buyers of Russian oil, the most. European countries that still buy Russian gas are also likely to be affected.

The bill has been co-signed by 50 senators — 25 Democrats and Republicans each. It has been sponsored by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and co-sponsored by Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal.

In addition to 500 per cent tariffs on all Russian goods and services, the bill calls for 500 per cent tariffs on “all goods or services imported into the United States” on a country that “knowingly sells, supplies, transfers, or purchases oil, uranium, natural gas, petroleum products, or petrochemical products that originated in the Russian Federation”.