Any country doing business with Russia will be ‘very severely’ sanctioned: Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that any country that does business with Russia will be “very severely sanctioned”, as his administration and Republican lawmakers push ahead with tough legislation targeting Moscow.

Responding to questions from reporters on Sunday (November 17, 2025) on whether it was time for Congress to pass measures aimed at pressuring Russia and President Vladimir Putin, President Trump said, “I hear they’re doing that, and that’s okay with me.” He added, “They are passing legislation. The Republicans are putting in legislation—Very tough sanctions on any country doing business with Russia. They may add Iran to that. I suggested it.”

“So any country that does business with Russia will be very severely sanctioned. We may add Iran to the formula,” Mr. Trump reiterated.

The Trump administration has imposed 50% tariffs on India, among the highest in the world, including 25% levies for its purchases of Russian energy.

A Bill introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham has proposed a 500% tariff on the secondary purchase and reselling of Russian oil. The proposal has near-unanimous backing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Mr. Graham and Senator Richard Blumenthal have jointly introduced the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, which seeks to impose secondary tariffs and sanctions on “countries that continue to fund Mr. Putin’s barbaric war in Ukraine”. The proposed legislation has 85 cosponsors in the Senate.

“President Trump and his team have made a powerful move, implementing a new approach to end this bloodbath between Russia and Ukraine. However, the ultimate hammer to bring about the end of this war will be tariffs against countries, like China, India, and Brazil, that prop up Mr. Putin’s war machine by purchasing cheap Russian oil and gas,” Mr. Graham and Mr. Blumenthal had said in a joint statement in July.