【Text by Observers Network, Liu Chenghui】U.S. politicians, who are not reducing their ambitions to sanction Russia, have once again issued threats against China.

On June 29 local time, U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told ABC that he has proposed a new bill to sanction Russia, which is expected to pass in Congress in July, and Trump currently supports it. He also threatened that if China and India purchase Russian energy, they are supporting "Putin's war machine," and according to this bill, the U.S. will impose a 500% tariff on imported products from China and India.

Graham confirmed to ABC host that he is pushing for a new bill to impose strict sanctions on Russia, and Trump agrees with him to do so.

"We plan to pass the bill the day after the July holiday (i.e., starting from July 7th)," Graham said. "This is a major breakthrough." The role of this bill is "if you buy products from Russia but don't help Ukraine, then your products exported to the U.S. will be taxed at 500%."

"China and India have bought 70% of Putin's oil, and they keep Putin's war machine running," he said. The bill already has 84 co-sponsors, allowing the president to impose tariffs on China, India, and other countries to prevent them from supporting Russia's 'war machine' and force Russia to sit at the negotiating table.

U.S. Republican Senator Graham, ABC

Graham mentioned that the day before, he played golf with Trump, and the two had a good relationship. Once the bill passes, Trump would have the right to decide whether to sign it into law.

"He told me, 'It's time to push forward your bill.' I told him, 'Mr. President, there is an exemption clause in the bill. Whether to implement it is up to you, you have the final say.' What we need to do is give President Trump a tool he doesn't have now."

Graham, who was listed by Russia as a terrorist and extremist, is well known for his anti-Russian statements. He announced the bill in April, suggesting that the U.S. should impose tariffs of up to 500% on goods exported to the U.S. from countries that buy oil, natural gas, petroleum products, and uranium from Russia.

About a month later, he and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal visited Kyiv to meet Ukrainian President Zelensky. At that time, he said the bill had 67 co-sponsors in the Senate, which has now increased to 84.

In the Senate, composed of 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats, this means Graham's bill has received broad bipartisan support.

Graham's remarks quickly attracted attention from the Russian side.

According to Reuters, on June 30, Russian President's press secretary Peskov responded that Russia is aware of the position of this U.S. senator and has noticed his statement.

Peskov said, "We clearly know the views of this senator, and the whole world knows them. He belongs to a group of entrenched Russophobes. If it were up to him, these sanctions would have already been implemented."

"Would this help (the process of resolving) the issue? This is a question that those who initiate such events should ask themselves."

Wang Fan, Dean of the School of International Relations, told Observers Network that Graham's proposal attempts to pressure China and India through tariff measures, preventing the two countries from further deepening cooperation with Russia in the oil and gas sector, causing some rifts in Sino-Russian and Russian-Indian relations. However, the previous tariff war process has shown that the U.S. cannot afford the negative impact of high tariffs. The so-called "imposing a 500% tax" is merely a political performance for Graham's anti-Russian stance, and no one would be blackmailed into harming traditional cooperation with other countries.

Currently, there are differences between the U.S. and Europe. The EU is continuing to push forward restrictive measures against Russia. Last week, it extended the 17th round of sanctions and proposed to cancel Russian fuel imports in the next round of sanctions. However, Trump has always held reservations about strengthening sanctions against Russia.

On June 16, Trump said that the U.S. would suspend sanctions against Russia in order to reach an agreement. On June 25, Secretary of State Rubio clearly stated that Trump would not support the European request to strengthen sanctions, as Trump is concerned that this might disrupt the already difficult peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

In early March, Trump once threatened that if he thought Russia was hindering his efforts to end the conflict, he would impose secondary tariffs of 25% to 50% on all Russian oil buyers.

On March 31, during a regular press conference, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jia Kun stated that China's position on the Ukraine crisis has always been consistent and clear. We have always believed that dialogue and negotiation are the only feasible way to resolve the Ukraine crisis. China-Russia cooperation does not target any third party and is not affected by third-party factors.

This article is an exclusive contribution by Observers Network. Without permission, it cannot be reprinted.

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