The sanctions would hinder Russia’s fuel exports, but in a presidential decree, Donald Trump says he has made clear to Congress that imposing them is currently “not in the national interest of the United States.”
The legislation, which was championed by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and later named after him, was signed into law by President Trump a month ago and was set to take effect on Sunday. Graham died earlier this year. The waiver temporarily halts the sanctions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the lifting of sanctions gives Putin reason to continue waging war. He fears that more sanctions will be lifted.
“The lifting of sanctions will unfortunately continue. I believe that the ‘diesel deal’ is just the first step,” Zelenskyy told the press, AFP reports.
Strong reactions
Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin reached an agreement last week under which Russia will make “300,000 tons” of Russian diesel, equivalent to just over two million barrels, available on the market.
The diesel deal and Trump’s statements that Ukraine “needs a new president” and should “stop attacking Russian oil refineries” have raised concerns among US lawmakers. In a letter on Thursday, 20 US senators from both parties urged the president to implement the new law.
The lawmakers stressed that the sanctions were “crucial” to “forcing Putin to take peace talks seriously.”
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren called the sanctions freeze a pitiful failure:
“By exempting these sanctions, Trump is flouting Congress’s directive to increase pressure on the Kremlin and enabling Vladimir Putin, Russia’s leader, to continue his war of aggression,” Warren wrote in a statement.
Targeting oil customers
The proposed sanctions would allow the US to impose punitive tariffs of up to 100 percent on the five countries that import the most crude oil or gas, or help Russia evade sanctions. They also aim to further tighten the net around Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers, as well as Russian banks, Kremlin officials and oligarchs.
Russia’s fuel exports finance a large part of its war economy.
Vladimir Putin’s envoy in negotiations with the US, Kirill Dmitriev, called Trump’s new sanctions announcement “important and truly historic.”
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