Trump pauses Russian sanctions package after striking diesel deal with Putin

On Friday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order halting a comprehensive sanctions package aimed at the Russian economy, citing the matter as being in the national interest. This order, named after South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, was designed to expedite the curbing of financial resources supporting the conflict in Ukraine.

The decision came a week after Trump announced that the US had entered into a diesel purchase agreement with Russia to help alleviate global energy price concerns, despite the potential negative impact on Ukraine's ongoing war efforts. The White House released a notification detailing the decision, which mentioned the submission of the report explaining it to Congress, but failed to clarify why halting the sanctions was deemed beneficial.

Trump invoked a waiver clause under the law, which codified and expanded the sanctions against Moscow. Although the directive suspends the application of tariffs, it does formally impose them, allowing Trump to re-impose the levies if desired. The measure granted Trump a 30-day window to apply a 100% tariff on all imports from the five largest buyers of Russian crude and impose 500% tariffs on all US purchases of Russian energy products.

This deadline was set to end on Sunday. The Trump administration has largely remained silent since the bill's passage, garnering broad bipartisan support in the House and Senate following Graham's death in July. Lawmakers had been urging Congress to accept the measure, following strong backing from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Trump has recently criticized Zelensky, stating that he failed to reach a deal with Putin to end the war. The recent agreement between Trump and Putin involved Russia supplying more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel, followed by additional deliveries in the coming months. This deal was a campaign focal point for Graham, who is also running for re-election in the Senate.

During a debate earlier in the week, Graham expressed pride in helping pass the measure, acknowledging that it was ultimately up to Trump to decide how to implement it. Graham emphasized that the purpose of the sanctions was to lower gas prices and potentially bring an end to the conflict. Waiving the tariffs could provoke fresh opposition from some lawmakers, including Republicans who were vocal in their disapproval of the deal with Putin.

A bipartisan group of senators recently sent a letter demanding Trump revoke the agreement and enforce the provisions of the Graham law. Waiving the law might also avoid a potential conflict with major purchasers of Russian energy, including China, India, and Turkey.