President Donald Trump signed an executive order late Friday waiving key provisions of newly enacted Russia sanctions legislation, citing national interest. The order suspends requirements that Trump increase tariffs on Russian goods by up to 500 percent and impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries including China and India that rank among the top five purchasers of Russian crude oil or gas.
The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 passed the House on September 16 and was signed into law two days later. The bill, introduced over a year ago and backed by the late Senator Lindsey Graham, targeted Russia's economy to penalize the country over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Trump's waiver comes two days before the law's implementation deadline but preserves existing Russia sanctions under earlier executive orders.
Trump issued a certification stating that the waiver "is in the national interests of the United States." The move follows a similar administration action one week earlier, when Trump temporarily waived sanctions on Russian diesel exports through April 2027 to ease a supply crunch. Oil sales revenue funds Russia's war effort.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's economy envoy Kirill Dmitriev called the suspension of Graham Act provisions "an important and truly historic moment" in an X post, adding that "U.S.-Russia economic dialogue and peacemaking efforts will continue."
Opposition to the waiver split along party lines. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat and fellow drafter of the Graham Act, condemned the move in an X post, saying Trump "stands on the side of a bloodthirsty thug & the enablers of Russia's war machine & against the majority of Americans, their representatives in both houses of Congress, & our European allies."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in Brussels on Friday that the diesel waiver could set a precedent for broader sanctions relief. "Sanctions will be lifted after gas. They will be lifted on something else. Then this will come to the banking system, certain individuals, chemical industry," Zelenskyy said to reporters.
High fuel prices remain a sensitive issue for voters ahead of midterm elections on November 3. Trump's Republican Party holds a narrow majority in both chambers of Congress.