US President Donald Trump said Sunday that "great legislation" would soon be discussed in Congress allowing his administration to impose tariffs on countries buying Russian oil.
"We can raise tariffs on them very quickly," Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he was returning from his Florida estate of Mar-a-Lago to the White House.
He was referring to India, on which the US doubled tariffs to 50% in August over its oil trade with Russia, which Washington opposes.
Trump was joined on the plane by Sen. Lindsey Graham, who provided details on a proposal for legislation.
"India is now buying substantially less Russian oil," Graham said, adding that oil purchases were what was keeping Moscow's "war machine going."
Trump claimed the economy of Russia, now almost in its fourth year of war with neighboring Ukraine and facing continued Western sanctions, was in "lousy" condition.
- Alleged Ukrainian strike on Russian president's residence
The Trump administration has characterized its pressure on Moscow as a means to clinch an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, amid efforts that included a meeting between the US president and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Florida last month.
Soon after those talks, Russia accused Ukraine of conducting a drone attack on a residence used by Russian President Vladimir Putin late last month in the northwestern Novgorod region. Kyiv immediately denied the claims.
Trump had initially said he was "angry" over the alleged attack, which the CIA later said it assessed was not true.
The US president, who was briefed by the CIA days earlier on the assessment, told reporters Sunday that he did not believe it took place.
"I don't believe that strike happened," he said.
"There is something that happened fairly nearby but had nothing to do with this," he added, noting that US officials had since been able to check the veracity of the Russian allegations.
"We just hope that Russia and Ukraine get it settled," he added.
