US President Donald Trump on Sunday warned that Washington would impose “very severely” punitive measures on any nation conducting business with Russia, as his administration and Republican lawmakers prepare a series of stringent actions targeting Moscow.

Answering reporters’ questions on whether Congress should move ahead with legislation designed to pressure Russia and President Vladimir Putin, Trump said, “I hear they're doing that, and that’s okay with me.”

He added, “They're passing legislation... the Republicans are putting in legislation... very tough sanctioning... on any country doing business with Russia. They may add Iran to that... I suggested it.”

Reiterating his stance, Trump declared, “So any country that does business with Russia will be very severely sanctioned. We may add Iran to the formula.”

The administration has already imposed steep tariffs on India—among the highest globally—including a 50 per cent rate and an additional 25 per cent levy on its purchases of Russian energy.

Meanwhile, legislation introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham proposes a 500 per cent tariff on the secondary purchase and resale of Russian oil, a move that has gained strong support within the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Graham and Senator Richard Blumenthal have also jointly brought forward the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, which aims to establish secondary tariffs and sanctions on “countries that continue to fund Putin’s barbaric war in Ukraine". The measure currently has 85 Senate cosponsors.

In a joint statement issued in July, Graham and Blumenthal said, “President Trump and his team have made a powerful move, implementing a new approach to end this bloodbath between Russia and Ukraine... However, the ultimate hammer to bring about the end of this war will be tariffs against countries, like China, India and Brazil, that prop up Putin’s war machine by purchasing cheap Russian oil and gas.”