U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) spoke on NBC News’ Meet the Press on Sunday about the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war and President Donald Trump‘s new approach to Russian President Vladimir Putin — after multiple Russian drones crossed into Polish airspace last week.
Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to punish Russia with new sanctions if it refuses to reach a peace agreement with Ukraine, announced on Saturday that he will now only sanction Russia when all NATO countries stop buying oil from Russia.
Trump also wants those countries to apply drastic tariffs (“up to 50-100 percent%) on China, who like India and Brazil buy oil from Russia.
Graham, who in April proposed the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, said on Meet the Press: “It is now time for the Europeans to follow President Trump’s lead and go after China and India. If China and India changed their practices toward Putin, this war would end.”
When Graham was asked “why impose an ultimatum to Europe and not Putin?,” Graham, a longtime supporter of Ukraine, said, “Putin doesn’t care about sanctions. No sanctions have worked. He evades sanctions. He lives well.”
Michael Weiss, founder of The Interpreter (a website that translates and analyzes Russian media) and director of special investigations at the Free Russia Foundation, which was established when Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, responded to Graham’s interview on social media.
I have my criticisms of Europe but Germany has overtaken the U.S. in security assistance to Ukraine. The Nordic and Baltic countries spend more of their GDP on Ukraine than other NATO allies spent on their own defense. France is keeping strategic bombers in Poland. Pulling weight… https://t.co/S8XuXTpqud
— Michael Weiss (@michaeldweiss) September 14, 2025
Weiss wrote: “I have my criticisms of Europe but Germany has overtaken the U.S. in security assistance to Ukraine. The Nordic and Baltic countries spend more of their GDP on Ukraine than other NATO allies spent on their own defense. France is keeping strategic bombers in Poland. Pulling weight isn’t the problem; the problem is Trump is terrified of harming Russia and prefers to bully allies when he’s feeling insecure about his unrequited love for Putin. This makes people like Graham look ridiculous.”
[Note: Weiss, co-author of the New York Times bestseller ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror, is writing a new book about the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency.]
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