US President Donald Trump has lifted a new round of sanctions linked to Russian fossil fuel sales, days before they take effect under a bill he signed into law last month.
The waiver announced in an executive order Friday comes as Trump increasingly feuds with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and cracks appear in Washington’s support for kyiv in its four-year war against its invading neighbor, deepening concern among European allies.
The White House has been pressuring Ukraine to end strikes against Russian oil facilities as it seeks to lower oil prices ahead of its country’s midterm elections. Ukraine briefly complied with the request, but has since resumed its attacks – and Russia continued to pound Ukraine’s energy infrastructure throughout the week.
Trump’s latest reprieve for Moscow’s depleted coffers quickly sparked criticism from both sides of the aisle in Washington on Friday evening.
The anticipated legislation would have imposed tariffs of up to 100 percent, among other things, on goods imported into the United States from the five largest importers of Russian crude oil or gas, the sale of which is crucial to financing the Kremlin’s war machine.
“I have submitted to Congress a certification that granting such a waiver at this time is in the national interest of the United States,” Trump said in the order released Friday by the White House.
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A Kyiv resident speaks with CNN’s Jim Sciutto about the realities of life in Ukraine as the war with Russia continues and missiles continue to strike the capital without warning.
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A Kyiv resident speaks with CNN’s Jim Sciutto about the realities of life in Ukraine as the war with Russia continues and missiles continue to strike the capital without warning.
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“It feels like the world is forgetting us”: kyiv resident talks about life under Russian attacks
The order does not specify why the decision serves the national interest and states that the waiver will remain in effect until the Trump administration determines that “additional action is appropriate.”
The measures were included in the Graham Act, legislation named in honor of former Sen. Lindsey Graham, a famous Russian hawk who died in July.
Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, hailed the waiver in an article on X as “an important and truly historic moment,” adding that “economic cooperation between Russia and the United States serves the interests of both nations.”
American lawmakers, however, condemned this exemption. Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren called it an “abject and predictable failure of leadership,” citing “strong bipartisan support” for Ukraine.
Republican Rep. Don Bacon said Trump is “prolonging the war, not ending it.”
In an article on »
And Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who helped write the bill, said on X: “These waivers have nothing to do with our national security, and everything to do with sucking up to Vladimir Putin.” »
The turnaround caps a turbulent week in U.S.-Ukraine relations, which has fueled concerns in Washington and Europe that Trump is taking a series of steps to actively help Putin.
Trump caught European leaders off-guard last week when he struck a deal allowing Russian diesel exports — a move that Zelensky said left him feeling betrayed. The deal also sparked bipartisan blowback at home.
The US president has blamed rising fuel prices on the war between Ukraine and Russia, keen to distract from his war in Iran, which remains deeply unpopular with voters.
Ties between Ukraine and its main supporter, the United States, have also been strained by the apparent withdrawal of US intelligence sharing and restrictions on the Starlink satellite internet service.
Earlier this week, Zelensky said his government received “no early warning from our partners” before a deadly ballistic missile attack hit a major power plant in kyiv and damaged a residential building. Trump, however, said the United States has not stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine.
And Ukrainian authorities said they were taken by surprise by restrictions imposed on the military version of Elon Musk’s Starlink, disrupting the operations of Ukraine’s drone missions and early warning systems, and reducing front-line military capabilities in logistics, communications and reconnaissance.
Zelensky said Friday that Starlink’s operations had improved but had not yet been fully restored.
Trump also lashed out at the Ukrainian leader in an interview with Newsmax on Thursday, saying, “I find Zelensky more difficult to deal with than Putin.” »
The growing tensions come as CNN reported that kyiv is running out of missiles for the U.S.-made Patriot air defense system, even as Russia continues to launch devastating air and drone strikes against Ukrainian energy plants.
Interceptors are among the few defensive weapons capable of shooting down a ballistic missile, and Zelensky has expressed his constant struggle to obtain more stockpiles.
Meanwhile, European leaders are rallying around Zelensky. On Friday, in a veiled speech addressed to Trump, the Ukrainian president greeted the continent’s “real leaders” at a summit in Belgium.
European Union leaders said they were preparing a new package of sanctions against Russia – the 22nd package since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Unlike the Trump administration, they were keen to emphasize that sanctions against Moscow would be strengthened unless Putin ended the war.
