Influential US senator Lindsey Graham has defended his proposal for drastic sanctions against Moscow - a plan that marks progress as Donald Trump's disappointment with Vladimir Putin seems to be growing and Russian strikes in Ukraine are intensifying, notes Agence France-Presse, BTA reported.
"A turning point is coming" in the war in Ukraine, the Republican senator said last night on CBS television, after the US president said last week that he would make a "major statement" today for Russia.
For several months, Lindsey Graham has been leading a coalition of US congressmen who are supporting tough new financial sanctions against Moscow and its supporters.
The proposed measures "would give President Trump the ability to impose 500% tariffs on any country that helps Russia and supports Putin's military machine," the senator said yesterday.
The president would have "maximum flexibility" regarding the imposed tariffs, if this text is adopted, said Lindsey Graham, who said he has the support of 85 of the 100 US senators, not just Donald Trump's Republicans.
On Tuesday, Trump said he was "studying this proposal very carefully", AFP recalls.
Trump would be able to use this to end the war, insists Lindsey Graham, who is traveling to Europe this week to defend the measures, along with his Democratic Party partner Richard Blumenthal.
The two senators met with the Ukrainian president, and today they are also expected to talk with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
At the same time, the news website Axios reported that US President Donald Trump is expected to announce a new plan to provide offensive weapons to Ukraine, in sharp contrast to his previous positions.
Earlier tonight he announced a plan to send air defense assets to Kiev, Reuters recalls.