Trump signs into law imposing new sanctions against Russia

Donald Trump signed into law on Friday a bill imposing new sanctions on Russia because of the war in Ukraine, and specifically targeting the Russian energy sector.

The text, which constitutes the first major action by Congress against Moscow since the return to power of the American president, bears the name of its main promoter, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who died in July, a fierce defender of Ukraine and a critic of Russia and Iran.

The law also has the ardent support of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

This new legislative arsenal targets the Russian ghost fleet for the first time, and also targets President Vladimir Putin, as well as other senior Russian officials.

In particular, it gives Donald Trump, who for his part has been rather lenient with Moscow until now, the power to impose tariffs of up to 100% on the five main importing countries of Russian gas and oil, including China and India.

The enactment of the law comes a week before a meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in Washington.

The law was adopted Thursday by the House of Representatives, after having already passed the Senate, the other chamber of the US Congress, in August.

"Unilateral"

Donald Trump signed the text into law shortly after relaunching, at least in appearance, the dialogue with Kyiv and Moscow, where his emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner recently visited.

The enacted law represents "an extremely powerful tool capable of putting an end to this terrorist war and pushing Russia to make peace," Volodymyr Zelensky reacted on X.

"The sanctions must be severe so that all efforts in favor of peace — including our joint diplomatic efforts with the United States, Europe and our other allies — can succeed," added the Ukrainian president, who had campaigned hard for the project, particularly during a visit to Washington in July.

China, a major buyer of Russian oil and potentially a target of US sanctions, on Saturday deplored, through its Ministry of Commerce, US measures that were "unilateral," not authorized by the UN and "without basis" in international law.

"We will closely monitor the future actions of the United States and reserve the right to take all necessary measures to firmly defend China's national sovereignty and development interests, as well as the legitimate and just rights and interests of Chinese enterprises," he said in a statement.

Missiles and drones

India stated on Thursday that it wanted to continue diversifying its oil supply sources.

A traditional ally of Russia, India has continued to import oil from it despite US sanctions, which claim that these purchases finance Moscow's war against Ukraine.

Supporters of this new legislation believe that additional economic pressure is needed against Russia, which launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

For supporters of Ukraine, strengthening sanctions against Russia and its allies, even indirect ones, is necessary as Moscow increases its strikes on Ukraine, with missiles and drones.

Faced with a frozen front line, where territorial gains are virtually nil, Russia is trying to increase pressure on the rear to undermine the morale of Ukrainian society.

Since this summer, taking advantage of the exhaustion of Ukrainian air defenses, its industrial power and the development of jet drones, Russia has been bombing Ukraine more and more massively, targeting targets without obvious military interest.

AFP