US President Donald Trump has used his presidential authority to block numerous sanctions on Russia that were recently passed by the US Congress in an effort to punish the country for its war on Ukraine.
In an executive order on Friday night, Trump said that it is in the US “national interests” to withhold some of the sanctions. Trump signed the sanctions bill into law in September, and it was due to take effect on Sunday.
It comes days after Trump said the US would import Russian diesel in an effort to bring down US energy prices before the midterm elections in November, which will decide which party controls Congress.
The plan shocked lawmakers and has triggered a bipartisan backlash. The US sanctions law is named for the late Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, who was one of Ukraine’s staunchest defenders in Washington before his death on 11 July.
The law took aim at Russia’s economy and gave Trump broad powers to levy tariffs of up to 100% on the top five purchasers of Russian oil and gas – most significantly China and India.
Additionally, the law includes sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin, senior figures within the Russian government as well as banks and other financial institutions and Russia’s “shadow fleet” of tankers used to circumvent existing sanctions.
On Thursday, a bipartisan group of 20 US lawmakers issued a letter calling on Trump to respect the new law, which is due to take effect on 18 October.
The lawmakers thanked Trump for signing the sanctions bill and urged his “full and faithful implementation” of the law. The lawmakers said it would be “decisive in forcing Putin to take peace talks seriously” and called on the Trump administration “to apply the Graham law’s sanctions to their fullest extent and without delay”.
Democrats such as the Virginia Congressman Don Beyer have already criticised Trump’s sanctions move, accusing him of capitulating to Moscow and turning his back on Kyiv and Zelensky.
“Trump’s latest surrender to Putin again betrays our Ukrainian partners and defies clear congressional intent of legislation designed to punish Russia for its illegal war of aggression,” Beyer wrote on X.
On 9 October, Trump announced that he had held a phone call with Putin and had agreed to purchase diesel from Moscow. Since the war with Iran started in February, US fuel and especially diesel prices have skyrocketed, adding to the financial pressure faced by American voters already worried about the cost of living. Trump hopes to bring fuel costs down before next month’s mid-term elections.
US allies criticised the diesel deal, anxious that it could help Russia in its war effort.
Next month hundreds of troops from Britain, France and Germany – key European allies of Ukraine – will take part in a major military exercise in Poland.
UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said the drill was “to ensure we are ready to support the military training and post-war rebuilding that Ukraine will need”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Trump’s diesel deal a gift to Putin that amounts to “an investment in a war that must be ended”.
On Sunday, 11 October, Trump claimed that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an “energy ceasefire”, insisting that it was “effective immediately” but provided no details.
Zelensky expressed surprise at the announcement, but said Kyiv would stop the strikes if Russia did the same, but Moscow said it had never agreed to the deal and continued its attacks. After three days, Kyiv resumed its strikes.
This prompted scathing criticism from Trump, with the president calling Kyiv’s strikes on Russian oil refineries a “disgrace”. Zelensky responded, saying he was “only standing up for Ukraine’s interests”.
Tensions were further heightened earlier in the week, when restrictions were placed on the US-owned Starlink internet network, which is critical for Kyiv’s military abilities to defend itself.
During a slowdown on Tuesday night, Russia launched several deadly strikes on Ukraine, with residents and the government saying there was no prior warning.
On Friday, Zelensky called the slowdown a “very dangerous and unpleasant surprise”, adding that Starlink speeds were still not fully restored.
