Washington (Reuters) – The President of the United States, Donald Trump, suspended significant sanctions and tariffs related to Russia days before they would take effect under a law he signed last month, including tariffs on goods and penalties for the purchase of Russian oil and gas.
In a decree released by the White House on Friday (16), Trump said that the suspension was in the national interest of the United States.
The law aimed to increase pressure on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022. Trump, however, has been showing more favor toward Moscow, while publicly criticizing the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, going so far as to suggest that Kyiv needs a new leader.
Zelensky, in a message posted on X on Saturday, said that Trump’s latest action encourages Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The suspension of U.S. sanctions, the relief of pressure on the aggressor, the financial rewards for Putin — all of this only encourages him to keep attacking. We must not yield ground,” Zelensky wrote, who said that Russia attacked, on Friday, more than 15 Ukrainian energy generation and transmission facilities. “We must continue trying to end the war. End it, and not give Putin all the reasons to continue it indefinitely.”
Weeks before the U.S. midterm elections, in which Trump’s Republicans are struggling to maintain their narrow control of both chambers of Congress, the new measures could have risked pushing oil prices even higher, while Americans face rising costs largely attributed to the wars of the United States and Israel against Iran, according to analysts.
The legislation, whose main supporter in Congress was the late Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican from South Carolina, would have imposed tariffs of up to 100% within 30 days on all goods brought into the U.S. from the five largest buyers of Russian crude oil or gas, as well as for any country that knowingly purchased oil or gas 30 days after the law’s enactment or was among the five top countries helping Russia circumvent the sanctions.
The decree states that the exemption will remain in effect until Trump or his senior aides determine that “other measures are appropriate.”
Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Russia and Iran Sanctions Act of 2026 in mid-September.
“I presented to Congress a certification that the issuance of this exemption at this time is in the national interest of the United States,” Trump said in the order.
Countries such as China and India, which are among the largest buyers of Russian oil, expressed concerns about the proposed sanctions on Russia.
Beijing said that it “consistently opposes the long-range jurisdiction that lacks a basis in international law,” while India warned Washington that new tariffs could affect bilateral relations.
The law allows the president to grant sanctions exemptions simply by informing Congress that he has determined that they are not in the national interest.
