Russia Bill Hands Trump 100% Tariff Hammer — SkimNews
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- Congress passed Russia sanctions 262-159 on Sept 16, with Trump authorized to slap up to 100% tariffs on China and India over Russian oil purchases — top Foreign Affairs Dem Gregory Meeks said White House lawyers drafted the bill to maximize Trump's tariff authority and "minimize any obligation" to actually sanction Russia.link ›
- The House Rules Committee cleared the bipartisan legislation on Monday, championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, who had pushed for the package since April 2025; the Senate had approved it 86-11 last month.link ›
- NATO fighter jets shot down a drone in Lithuanian airspace near Pratkunai, about 100 km west of Vilnius — the alliance's first such intercept in Lithuania — with wreckage recovered and Mark Rutte pledging reinforcements along the 32-member bloc's eastern border with Russia.link ›
- Trump claimed Monday that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to stop striking each other's energy sites; Zelenskyy countered with a conditional halt if Washington verifies Moscow is "genuinely ready to stop" — Russia did not comment and overnight both sides exchanged drones at scale (222 Ukrainian drones downed by Russia alone).link ›
- South Korea's Lee Jae Myung publicly refused Trump's request to deploy military assets to the Middle East "in any form," even as Seoul and Washington near finalizing a $350 billion Korean investment deal that lowered US tariffs on Korean imports to 15%.link ›
- DoD's inspector general flagged a strategic munitions shortfall after $22.3 billion was expended in Operation Epic Fury (Feb 28–June 30, 2026); the four-month conflict cost $33.4 billion and destroyed four F-15s, one F-35, seven KC-135 tankers and up to 30 MQ-9 drones.link ›
- Russia's three-day parliamentary vote included residents of four illegally annexed Ukrainian regions plus Crimea; Yabloko, the only registered party critical of the war, was removed by the Supreme Court and the EU called the process "a blatant violation of international law."link ›
Congress passed a sweeping Russia sanctions bill 262-159 on Tuesday that, per top House Foreign Affairs Democrat Gregory Meeks, was "deeply flawed" — drafted by White House lawyers to hand Trump authority to slap 100% tariffs on China and India over Russian oil purchases while weakening any obligation to actually sanction Moscow. The legislation extends to Russia's shadow fleet and layers in Iran sanctions. NATO fighter jets shot down a drone in Lithuanian airspace near Pratkunai about 100 km west of Vilnius — the alliance's first such intercept in Lithuania — with Secretary-General Mark Rutte pledging reinforcements along the eastern border. Back in Moscow, Russia held sham parliamentary elections that included occupied Ukrainian regions, with Yabloko removed from the ballot and the EU blasting the vote as "a blatant violation of international law."
The stories behind this week
House Advances Graham-Backed Russia Sanctions BillThis bill strengthens Congress’s leverage over U.S. sanction policy at a time when enforcement gaps may be limiting pressure on Russia; by naming specific enablers as targets, it raises the cost for third parties assisting Moscow, with real implications for global financial compliance networks and enforcement actions.
US Congress passes sweeping Russia sanctions BillDemocrats charged the bill was written to hand Trump sweeping discretionary tariff power — up to 100% on China and India over Russian oil purchases — while weakening the duty to actually sanction Moscow, exposing a fragile bipartisan consensus on Ukraine weeks before midterm campaigning begins.
NATO Downs First Drone in Lithuanian AirspaceThis is the first NATO drone shootdown in Lithuania, a kinetic step-up on the alliance's eastern flank, paired with Rutte's pledge to reinforce NATO's border defenses. The timing undercuts Trump's unverified social-media claim of a Russia-Ukraine energy-infrastructure ceasefire—Moscow didn't comment, and overnight each side was still exchanging drones at scale (222 Ukrainian drones downed by Russia alone).
Zelenskyy Offers to Pause Strikes if Russia Spares GridTrump's unilateral claim of a Ukraine-Russia energy-strike moratorium was immediately walked back by Zelenskyy's conditional counter-offer, exposing a gap between White House rhetoric and Kyiv's actual demands. With Russian strikes killing three Ukrainians on Tuesday and both sides exchanging hundreds of drones overnight, no operational pause is in effect — meaning Washington must now broker verifiable commitments before either side de-escalates ahead of winter.
South Korea Refuses Troops for US Iran WarSouth Korea's public refusal marks a rare public break by a key US ally from a wartime request, while Trump's earlier decision to scale back joint drills shows the alliance fraying on multiple fronts. The near-finalized $350 billion investment deal offers Washington a separate economic win even as military cooperation deteriorates.
U.S. military says Iran war has led to munitions shortfallThe U.S. faces degraded combat readiness due to depleted missile inventories and damaged regional infrastructure, while the $33.4 billion price tag in just four months signals unsustainable war costs—directly contradicting Trump’s public assertions of limitless military capacity and undermining strategic credibility.
Carney Woos Global Investors in Toronto to Counter U.S. TariffsCanada's quarterly FDI average roughly doubled from C$15 billion in 2022 to C$23 billion in 2024-2025, yet greenfield investment has lagged, so this summit tests whether Carney can convert his personal Goldman Sachs-era network into tangible new factories and data centers — not just M&A deals — while U.S. tariffs keep biting.
Voting begins in three-day Russian parliamentary electionWith Yabloko removed and anti-war figures jailed or exiled, the vote offers no real measure of dissent, while the inclusion of four partially occupied Ukrainian regions formalizes Moscow's territorial claims in a process the EU calls 'a blatant violation of international law.'
Why it matters: Trump now holds a 100% tariff hammer over Beijing and New Delhi as leverage over Moscow — a single instrument Congress just handed him, expecting he'll actually swing it.
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