US House Speaker backs tough sanctions against Russia
Photo: Mike Johnson (Getty Images)
Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson supported the introduction of tougher sanctions against Russia by the US Congress due to the ongoing aggression against Ukraine, New York Post reports.
"There’s many members of Congress that want us to sanction Russia as strongly as we can. And I’m an advocate of that," Johnson said.
The House Speaker's support for the legislation imposing new economic restrictions on Russia comes amid calls from both parties in the Senate for dire sanctions against the Kremlin.
Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal co-sponsored the bill in the upper chamber, which would impose a 500 percent tariff on any country that buys Russian energy.
Graham earlier noted that there are members of the House of Representatives who are ready to pass the sanctions bill and send it to US President Donald Trump for his signature. However, it is not yet clear whether Trump will support tough sanctions against Russia amid the Russian-Ukrainian peace talks.
The Graham-Blumenthal bill has more than 80 co-sponsors in the Senate.
"The bill would put Russia on a trade island,” Graham wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed last week. “The consequences of its barbaric invasion must be made real to those that prop it up. If China or India stopped buying cheap oil, Mr. Putin’s war machine would grind to a halt," Graham said.
The bill is currently being considered by a Senate committee.
Tougher sanctions against Russia
Earlier, US President Donald Trump claimed that he was considering new sanctions against Russia. However, Washington is in no hurry to impose them. Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained this by saying that because of the sanctions, Russia could withdraw from negotiations to end the war against Ukraine.
Also on May 20, the EU adopted the 17th package of sanctions against Russia and has already begun work on new restrictions.
At the same time, the leaders of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and other European countries have stated that they are ready to increase sanctions against Moscow if it refuses to cease fire or take other steps toward peace.
