The United States Senate on Friday cleared a bill targeting Russia and key buyers of its petroleum products, including India and China.

The draft legislation provides for Washington to impose tariffs of up to 500% on imports from Russia, including gas and oil. It also creates a framework for United States President Donald Trump to impose a 100% tariff on the five main importers of Russian energy, including India and China.

Washington has for long claimed that the purchase of Russian energy has been fuelling Moscow’s war on Ukraine that began in February 2022.

The bill, named after late legislator Lindsey Graham who had spearheaded the draft legislation before he died on July 11, was approved by the Senate by an 86-11 vote.

It will be placed before the House of Representatives. However, the lower chamber of the US Congress is not expected to consider it before September because of the congressional summer recess.

Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that the bill passed on Friday “could finally bring Russia to the negotiating table and end this conflict”, AFP reported.

The bill will “cut off the flow of cash that powers” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “war machine”, the news agency quoted the Republican leader as saying.

There have been diplomatic tensions between Washington and New Delhi over India’s continued purchases of Russian crude.

The Trump administration had in August 2025 imposed a punitive levy on India for buying oil from Russia amid the Ukraine war. This had taken the combined US tariff rate to 50%.

In January, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed that India had stopped buying Russian oil after Trump imposed the punitive tariff.

In February, after New Delhi and Washington agreed to an interim trade deal, Trump issued an executive order to remove the additional 25% punitive levy linked to the purchase of Russian oil.

New Delhi has maintained that India’s decisions on sourcing crude oil are based primarily on commercial viability. Ensuring stable energy prices and secure supplies were the goals of India’s energy policy, it has said.

Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.

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