Trumps backs bill for very high tariffs on India, China for buying Russian oil: US Senator
New York/Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump has backed a sanctions bill that could impose 500 per cent tariffs on countries buying Russian oil, giving the White House leverage against countries like China and India to stop them from purchasing cheap oil from Moscow.
US Senator Lindsey Graham on Wednesday said that the legislation would give the White House "tremendous leverage" against countries like China, India and Brazil to incentivise them to stop buying cheap oil from Russia.
“After a very productive meeting today with President Trump on a variety of issues, he greenlit the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that I have been working on for months with Senator Blumenthal and many others,” Graham said in a post on X Wednesday.
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“This will be well-timed, as Ukraine is making concessions for peace, and Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent. This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries who buy cheap Russian oil, fuelling Putin’s war machine,” he said.
“This bill would give President Trump tremendous leverage against countries like China, India and Brazil to incentivise them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil that provides the financing for Putin’s bloodbath against Ukraine,” he added.
Graham said he looks forward to a “strong” bipartisan vote on the bill, “hopefully as early as next week.”
Trump has imposed 50 per cent tariffs on India, among the highest in the world, including 25 per cent levies for its purchases of Russian energy.
Graham and Blumenthal have introduced the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, which would impose secondary tariffs and sanctions on “countries that continue to fund Putin’s barbaric war in Ukraine.”
The legislation has proposed a 500 per cent tariff on secondary purchase and reselling of Russian oil and one that almost every single member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has co-sponsored.
“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 Putin’s war machine by purchasing cheap Russian oil and gas,” a joint statement by Graham and Blumenthal had said last year.
Earlier this week, Graham had said that Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Kwatra informed him about New Delhi reducing its purchases of Russian oil and asked him to convey to President Donald Trump to “relieve the tariff” imposed on India.
Graham, accompanying Trump on Air Force One on Sunday, was talking about his tariff bill.
Graham said that to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, pressure must be put on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s customers. Trump said that the sanctions are hurting Russia very badly and then mentioned India.
Graham then said that the US put a 25 per cent tariff on India for buying Russian oil.
“I was at the Indian Ambassador's house about a month ago, and all he wanted to talk about is how they are buying less Russian oil," Graham said. He added that the Indian envoy conveyed to him 'Would you tell the President to relieve the tariff?'"
“This stuff works...but if you are buying cheap Russian oil, keeping Putin's war machine going, we are trying to give the President the ability to make that a hard choice by tariffs. I really do believe that what he (Trump) did with India is the chief reason India is now buying substantially less Russian oil,” Graham said.
India’s Ambassador to the US Vinay Kwatra had last month hosted US Senators, including Graham, Blumenthal, Sheldon Whitehouse, Peter Welch, Dan Sullivan and Markwayne Mullin at India House, the official residence of the Ambassador of India in Washington, DC. “Had fruitful conversations on the India-US partnership from energy and defence cooperation to trade and important global developments. Grateful for their support for a stronger India–US relationship,” Kwatra had said in a post on X.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
