Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump approves major Russia sanctions bill after Zelensky says war could end soon
Donald Trump has given his approval for Republicans to push ahead with a bill in Congress that would punish countries for buying Russian oil.
Senator Lindsey Graham said the president “green-lit” the new sanctions legislation when the pair met yesterday.
Citing China, India and Brazil as the biggest offenders, he said: “This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries who buy cheap Russian oil fueling Putin’s war machine.”
The “secondary sanctions” bill has been in the works for months, but the Trump administration has focused its efforts on a push for peace rather than punishing Vladimir Putin for his war on Ukraine.
Earlier on Wednesday, Volodymyr Zelensky said he believes Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine could be brought to an end in the first half of this year, insisting that negotiations reached a new milestone with talks this week in Paris.
The Ukrainian president appeared at a ceremony marking the start of Cyprus’s six-month EU presidency, and said he “sincerely believe that this war can be ended” in that timeframe.
