In the United States, 72 senators support the bill to impose “crushing” sanctions against Russia in case it refuses peace talks, said one of the authors of the initiative, an associate of US President Lindsey Graham, Bloomberg reports.
According to him, Russian leader Vladimir Putin “would be making a huge mistake trying to trick Trump, so this bill is a tool in the US president’s arsenal.”
Graham said he also has enough support in the House of Representatives to bring the sanctions bill to the floor there as well.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the number of co-sponsors of the document has surpassed the key threshold of 60-that’s enough to pass it in the Senate.
Bloomberg draws attention to the fact that Graham’s statement coincided in time with the signing of the US-Ukraine Natural Resources Agreement.
The bill provides for both primary and secondary sanctions, in particular, the imposition of 500 per cent duties on imports from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium or petroleum products. Also proposed is a ban for US banks to invest in structures linked to the Russian government and for US citizens to buy Russian government bonds.
Earlier, amid US negotiations with Kiev and Moscow on a possible ceasefire, Washington allowed for a partial lifting of sanctions against Russia, but warned of new sanctions in case of a breakdown in the agreements.