U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed support for a bill that proposes imposing strong sanctions against Russia. He also does not rule out the possibility that Iran may join the list of countries subject to these restrictions. Trump made this statement while commenting on the work of the U.S. Congress on a new package of sanctions aimed at countries doing business with Russia.
This is reported by Business • Media
The Essence of the Sanctions and the Role of China and India
Since April, discussions have been ongoing in the U.S. regarding the introduction of secondary sanctions against countries that trade with Russia, particularly in the energy sector. The initiative, proposed by Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal, includes establishing tariffs of up to 500% for countries purchasing Russian oil, gas, uranium, and other goods, and not providing support to Ukraine in its resistance to the Russian invasion. The primary targets of the sanctions could be China and India, which remain the largest consumers of Russian energy resources.
“We can add Iran to this list,” Trump said, but did not specify further details.
Germany’s Position on Russian Gas Imports
Meanwhile, the federal company Sefe, formerly known as Gazprom Germania, which was a subsidiary of the Russian “Gazprom” in Germany, continues to purchase significant volumes of liquefied natural gas from Russia. Just last year, Sefe’s purchases amounted to over 5 billion cubic meters, providing hundreds of millions of euros to the Russian military budget. Despite the nationalization of the company following the onset of the full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine and the energy crisis in Europe, Sefe continues to operate with Russia under the existing long-term contract.
The German government is being urged to terminate existing contracts with Russia, and Sefe is being called upon to stop the so-called “dirty business” and completely abandon the import of Russian liquefied gas.