WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday night he supports a bipartisan Senate bill imposing sanctions on any country importing Russian oil, but hopes he doesn't have to use it.
One day earlier, GOP Senator Lindsey Graham said that Trump gave the green light to the measure, which would require the United States to impose a 500 percent tariff on all goods imported from any country that continues to purchase Russian oil, petroleum products or uranium.
"I support you. Support it. I hope we don't have to use it anyway," Trump said in an interview with Fox News.
Trump also said he "didn't think it was a tough decision" to seize the Russia-flagged oil tanker linked to Venezuela in the North Atlantic on Wednesday. Russia reportedly had dispatched a naval vessel trying to safeguard it.
"After a very productive meeting today with President Trump on a variety of issues, he greenlit the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that I have been working on for months with Senator Blumenthal and many others," Graham wrote on X, saying it will be "well-timed."
Graham said that voting could take place next week in the Senate.
The bill was first proposed in April last year with 84 co-sponsors in the Senate, but later languished due to a lack of support from Trump, according to media reports. ■
