Russia Celebrates 'Historic Moment' After Trump Formally Waives Graham Act Sanctions
The Kremlin is praising the Trump White House after the US President on Friday signed an executive order to waive a new package of sanctions and tariffs on Russia.
What's essentially a major and unexpected 'stay of execution' comes after in September Trump had signed the "Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026" into law.
It was expected to take effect soon, as part of a big Washington ramping up of pressure to further strangle the Russian economy and thus starve Putin's war machine.
Trump has informed Congress that he must waive the new sanctions package because it is in the US national interest, at a moment he's desperately trying to get diesel prices under control amid both the Iran war and Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil refineries.
"I have submitted to the Congress a certification that the issuance of such a waiver at this time is in the national interests of the United States," the president said in his order.
The significant reversal comes weeks before US midterm elections, and appears a serious extension and overture related to the earlier diesel deal struck between Putin and Trump.
Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev has hailed the move to put sanctions on hold as a "significant and truly historic moment."
He further said that enacting the package likely would have "brought economic cooperation between Russia and the US to a complete standstill."
Had Trump finally pulled the trigger on the measure, it would have slapped tariffs of up to 100% within 30 days on imports from Russia's top five oil and gas buyers, as well as any nation that knowingly purchased Russian fuel or actively helped Moscow evade sanctions
Needless to say, the Zelensky government sees this as yet more huge 'betrayal' by Trump and Washington, despite the billions in US and European taxpayer dollars already sunk into Kiev's coffers.
In a Saturday morning social media post, Zelensky accused Trump of essentially once again siding with Moscow, while also lamenting the loss of his friend Lindsey, and now also the loss of the sweeping sanctions package named after the late South Caroline Senator...
Sanctions relief will continue. I think the diesel deal and the move regarding the Lindsey Graham Act are not the end of it. Unfortunately. It’s unfortunate because we all had great respect for Lindsey. He devoted his life to America. We had an excellent relationship with him. And shortly before the tragedy, Lindsey was in Ukraine. He always supported us very strongly and pushed for as much assistance to Ukraine as possible. It’s difficult without him, I’ll be honest. I want to thank both Democrats and Republicans who supported his bill. That was a major victory: this truly bipartisan support. And now, the decision to undo all of this, to block all of it, seems wrong to me. And it definitely helps only the Russians. It only fuels their satisfaction and their desire to keep killing people. This certainly does not stop the war. From answers to journalists’ questions. (1/3)
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 17, 2026
And to be expected the hawks in Congress are raging:
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who worked closely with Graham on this issue, released a statement slamming the president's decision.
"These waivers have nothing to do with our national security, and everything to do with sucking up to Vladimir Putin," Blumenthal said.
Of the diesel deal of over a week ago, Trump had described, "It was agreed that Russia will immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace, another 500,000 Tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 Tons immediately thereafter."
Some key elements of what was supposed to be enacted, but have now been paused indefinitely:
The order, posted by the White House, lays out the penalties the law calls for and then waives them, including:
- 500% tariffs on Russian goods
- 100% tariffs on the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas
- 100% tariffs on the top facilitators of Russian sanctions evasion
⭕️ BREAKING: President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday waiving nearly all the Russia sanctions and tariffs required under a law named for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, the New York Times reported. Trump signed the law himself on Sept. 18. The order, posted by the White House, lays out the penalties the law calls for and then waives them, including: ➤ 500% tariffs on Russian goods ➤ 100% tariffs on the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas ➤ 100% tariffs on the top facilitators of Russian sanctions evasion Trump told Congress the waiver "is in the national interests of the United States." It follows his deal with Vladimir Putin to buy Russian diesel.
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) October 17, 2026
He had said further when announcing the initial diesel deal to the world on Truth Social, "Additionally, based on the condition of their Diesel Refineries, Russia will then deliver, within a short period of time, 3,000,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel." But obviously this agreement would have been hindered if the Graham sanctions had taken effect, thus the logic of waiving them.