Earlier this month, Trump threatened secondary tariffs on buyers of Russian oil if Moscow did not agree to a peace deal by early September.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Tuesday told Fox News that imposing sanctions on Russian oil in an effort to end the Ukraine war is a “very real possibility.”
Wright said in an interview on Fox News’s “Special Report” with host Bret Baier that sanctions are “the biggest pressure you can put on [Russia], and President [Donald] Trump has been all in on peace, wherever it is.”
“I think it’s a very real possibility,” he said.
The energy secretary told Baier that as the world’s largest oil and natural gas producer, the United States is “able to do things today we couldn’t do before.”
Earlier this month, Trump threatened secondary tariffs on buyers of Russian oil if Moscow did not agree to a peace deal with Kyiv by early September.
On July 14, Trump set a 50-day deadline, after which, if no agreement is made, he would introduce a 100 percent duty on goods from third countries that trade with the Russian Federation, a move that would further isolate Moscow from the global economy.
Trump’s proposed 100 percent secondary tariffs are separate from the Russian sanctions bill, sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), which proposes even higher tariffs on Russia and its trading partners.
According to the summary of the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, the United States could impose at least a 500 percent tariff on goods and services imported from Russia and at least 500 percent tariffs on goods and services imported from countries “that knowingly engage in the exchange of Russian-origin uranium and petroleum products.”
Last week, the European Union approved its 18th sanctions package targeting Russia’s energy industry and shadow fleet.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said on July 18, “We will keep raising the costs, so stopping the aggression becomes the only path forward for Moscow.”
