Kristina Kazakova20:15, 02.08.25

The bill to introduce new sanctions against Russia was not adopted in the US Senate, and Trump’s ultimatum is set to expire on August 8.

The US Senate is going to go on summer recess without passing a bill to impose sanctions on Russia. This gives US President Donald Trump the exclusive right to decide for himself whether to impose the promised sanctions against Russia or not, The Hill writes.

Trump recently announced that he was reducing the period for introducing new sanctions against Russia to 10-12 days. As the publication notes, this period should end by August 8, unless Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin agrees to a truce.

Also, not only Russia, but also countries that buy oil from it may suffer from new duties. The publication points out that as a warning, the head of the White House announced the introduction of 25% tariffs against India, which is one of the main importers of Russian energy resources. It is noteworthy that the bill of the US Congress proposed to introduce secondary duties in the amount of 500%.

It is noted that although the senators are in favor of supporting Ukraine and wanted the bill to be passed before they go on a month-long vacation, at least until the end of the summer the decision on the advisability of imposing sanctions against Russia now remains entirely in Trump’s hands.

“I think he’s going to be very careful in what he does. But I think he’s clearly disappointed with Putin and is now beginning to acknowledge that many of us were right,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota.Read also:

As the publication notes, Democrats are skeptical that Trump will punish Putin, even though he is increasingly frustrated with the Kremlin leader’s reluctance to agree to a truce.

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who co-authored the sanctions bill with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, said he would consider it a victory if Trump implemented even a fifth of the restrictions they proposed in the document.

“In our bill, we propose 500% (of duties – ed.). If it is 250%, I can live with it. Even if it is 100%, maybe. But you must introduce tough sanctions that will stop them from feeding the Russian war machine,” Blumenthal said.

Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen pointed to Trump’s 25% tariff on India as further evidence of influence on Russia.

“Clearly, India has taken notice. I think it’s positive progress that the president is looking at ways to put more pressure on Russia,” Shaheen said.

Graham said Trump had “adopted a theory of the matter” – to go after countries that buy Russian oil and fail to provide aid to Ukraine.

“I think the bill, as you say, gives him leverage and we are in constructive negotiations, so watch this space,” Graham added.

Strengthening US sanctions against Russia

UNIAN reported earlier that Indian officials said that the country would continue to buy oil from Russia despite Trump’s threats to impose 25% duties. Although Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal did not make any official statements, he hinted that the course toward partnership with Russia would not change. He added that India and Russia have a stable and time-tested partnership.

We also wrote that the Ukrainian President’s Commissioner for Sanctions Policy Vladislav Vlasyuk shared that if the head of the White House does introduce new 100% duties against the Russian Federation from September, the aggressor country could lose up to $30 billion by the end of 2025. Vlasyuk cited preliminary estimates that the Russian Federation would lose $12-13 billion monthly. He recalled that Russian oil is about 12% of the world market.

(c)UNIAN 2025