US Senator Lindsey Graham, a powerful ally of President Donald Trump, a friend of Ukraine and Israel, and a vocal critic of India, died unexpectedly at the age of 71.
Graham was strongly against India’s purchases of Russian crude oil, accusing New Delhi and other major buyers of financing Moscow’s war in Ukraine by paying what he called “blood money.”
Graham repeatedly singled out India alongside China and Brazil for continuing to import discounted Russian energy after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In one of his sharpest remarks, delivered on Fox News last year, Graham warned: “Here’s what I would tell China, India and Brazil: If you keep buying cheap Russian oil to allow this war to continue, we’re going to tear the hell out of you, and we’re going to crush your economy, because what you’re doing is blood money.”
He argued that oil revenues were supporting the Russian military campaign.
Graham co-sponsored bipartisan legislation with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, known as the Sanctioning Russia Act. The measure would have given the US president authority to impose tariffs of up to 500% on imports from countries that buy Russian petroleum products, natural gas, or uranium.
Graham said the legislation was designed to push buyers such as India to choose between the American economy and continuing to support Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“I really do believe that what he did with India is the chief reason India is now buying substantially less Russian oil,” Graham said in remarks last year.
He also claimed that during a visit to the Indian ambassador’s residence in Washington, the envoy asked him to convey to Trump a request to ease tariffs because India had cut its Russian oil purchases.
Graham, a strong supporter of US military aid to Ukraine, encouraged the Modi government to use its diplomatic influence with Russia to help bring an end to the Ukraine conflict.
In one social media post, Graham wrote that doing so would be “one of the most consequential things” India could do to improve relations with the United States.
New Delhi has maintained that its purchases are driven by energy security needs and has rejected calls to cut ties with Russia. Graham’s criticism of India stood in contrast to his overall support for closer US-India ties, including cooperation in the Indo-Pacific to counter China.
Interestingly, Graham harshly opposed Trump a decade ago, but ultimately backed him as he steadily gained power over the Republican Party.
Graham’s office said in a statement on his official X account that he had “passed away from a brief and sudden illness.”
His office later said that the local medical examiner had preliminarily determined Graham’s cause of death to be a tear in his aorta as a result of heart disease.
Trump instead joined the program and hailed his late ally as a natural-born, hard-working politician skilled at dealing with people from both major US parties. “He’s a tough one to lose. He was great. He was unique in every way, actually,” Trump said by telephone.
The president said they had actually spoken Saturday evening as Graham returned from a trip to Ukraine. “It could have been his last call,” Trump remarked.
Later, Trump ordered on his Truth Social platform that American flags across the country be lowered to half-staff in mourning.
Great Friend of Israel
Unlike India, Graham was a prominent supporter of Israel and had vociferously pushed Washington to attack Iran and overthrow its regime.
Graham argued that removing Iran’s current leadership would bring greater stability and prosperity to the Middle East and urged successive US administrations to take a more confrontational approach toward the Islamic Republic.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Lindsey is a great friend of Israel and a cherished friend of mine.”
He consistently backed strong American military aid to Israel and defended its right to conduct military operations against Hamas in Gaza following the October 2023 attacks.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was deeply saddened by Graham’s death, having met him in Kyiv very recently.
“He visited Ukraine ten times during the years of Russia’s full-scale invasion and was here with our people when it was most needed…America and the world have lost a determined leader,” Zelensky said in a Facebook post.
With Inputs from Agence France-Presse
