(The Turkish Post) – U.S. President Donald Trump has waived Russia sanctions and tariffs that Congress passed under the Graham Act, signing an executive order late on Oct. 16, two days before the measures were due to take effect.
The move drew criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and from lawmakers of both parties on Oct. 17, while a senior Russian envoy called it “a truly historic moment.” It deepens a public rift between Trump and Zelensky that has grown through October.
What the Russia sanctions waiver covers
The law, the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, was due to impose duties on Russian goods and tariffs of up to 100% on goods from the five largest buyers of Russian crude oil and natural gas. It also targeted countries that help Russia evade existing sanctions.
Trump signed the act in the Oval Office on Sept. 18. It passed the Senate by 86 votes to 11 and allows the president to waive its measures by telling Congress that they are not in the national interest.
Trump’s order said the waiver was in the U.S. national interest. The measures will stay suspended until the president or his senior officials decide that further action is appropriate. The order does not lift Russia sanctions that earlier executive orders imposed.
The law is named after Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who was its main sponsor in Congress. Graham died in July.
Zelensky says the waiver helps only Russia
Zelensky thanked members of both parties who had backed the bill. “And now, the decision to undo all of this, to block all of it, seems wrong to me,” he wrote on X. “And it definitely helps only the Russians.”
“This certainly does not stop the war,” Zelensky said, adding that he expected more relief for Moscow to follow. He urged Ukraine’s allies to keep their own Russia sanctions in place and to maintain pressure on Moscow.
Kirill Dmitriev, President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation, welcomed the pause in Russia sanctions on social media. He called it a “truly historic moment” and argued that the penalties would have hurt the U.S. economy and world markets. The Kremlin had not commented by the evening of Oct. 17.
Republicans and Democrats criticize the Graham Act waiver
Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina called the decision “beyond irresponsible” and accused the administration of giving in to Putin. “What part of enforcing a law passed 86-11 by the Senate does the President and his advisers not understand?” he wrote on X.
Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said Graham “would be appalled.” Democratic Representative Don Beyer of Virginia said Trump was yielding to Putin and ignoring what Congress intended when it passed the law.
Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who voted against the bill, backed the decision to pause the Russia sanctions. He said he was “glad to see Trump has used the executive authority granted to him by Congress.”
Diesel deal and a feud with Zelensky
The waiver is Trump’s second step in two weeks to ease pressure on Moscow. On Oct. 9, after a phone call with Putin, he announced that Russia would release large volumes of diesel to U.S. and world markets, and the Treasury Department issued a license allowing the trade until April 2027.
Diesel prices have risen since the war between the United States and Iran began in February, and fuel costs have become a political problem for Trump’s Republicans before the midterm elections on Nov. 3. Several Republican senators urged Trump earlier this week to cancel the diesel deal and enforce the sanctions.
A day after the diesel announcement, Trump said Ukraine should replace Zelensky with a leader willing to make a deal with Russia. He has also called Ukraine’s renewed drone strikes on Russian refineries “a disgrace,” saying they push up oil prices.
Kyiv says Russia has kept attacking Ukraine’s power grid since Trump announced an energy truce on Oct. 11, when Russian strikes hit power plants in Kyiv and Kharkiv within hours. Ukrainian drones then set the Ryazan refinery ablaze on Oct. 15.
