Trump says he won't impose sanctions on Russia, thwarting Congress

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said he will not impose many sanctions on Russia that were due to take effect in the coming days, his latest move to support the Russian economy and relieve pressure on the Kremlin’s dwindling war chest.

Trump’s order effectively undermines legislation passed in Congress with bipartisan support to sanction Russia’s trading partners. The decision to issue a sanctions waiver comes as Trump has openly sided with Russia’s authoritarian leader Vladimir Putin over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the nearly five-year war nears a critical juncture for Kyiv.

“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,” Trump wrote Oct. 16.

In recent days, Trump struck a deal with Putin to import Russian diesel into the United States in a bid to lower U.S. fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections. The agreement has faced sharp, bipartisan criticism from lawmakers who have urged Trump to back out of the deal and enact the new sanctions package against Russia.

The legislation, named the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, passed the House with a majority of Republicans and 58 Democrats. The bipartisan support reflected broad support for Ukraine in Congress.

The legislation would have placed up to 100% tariffs on goods from the top five countries that imported the most Russian crude oil or gas. The sanctions package also targeted countries that bought Russian fossil fuels within 30 days of the law taking effect.

Trump, however, has escalated a feud with Zelenskyy in recent days. The U.S. president has blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries for rising prices at the pump, which he is desperately trying to lower ahead of the November midterm elections.

The skyrocketing fuel prices, which experts primarily attribute to Trump’s war against Iran, have become a major liability for the Republican Party as it hopes to hold onto control of Congress.

Zelenskyy has defended the strikes as a critical part of the strategy to put pressure on Russia’s economy, which has financed Putin’s nearly five-year war against Ukraine. Zelenskyy has also excoriated Trump in recent days over the president’s willingness to strike business deals with Putin at Ukraine’s expense.

Putin, Zelenskyy said in a recent interview, is “real evil.”

“How can Trump be friends with him?” Zelenskyy added. “I think that it’s a mistake.”

Trump’s decision to waive the sanctions on Russia will almost certainly face widespread condemnation from lawmakers.

A bipartisan group of 12 senators, including six Republicans, slammed Trump’s diesel deal in an Oct. 13 letter, calling it “a betrayal” to U.S. allies. The senators also demanded that Trump enforce the Lindsey Graham Act and sanction Russia.

“Both chambers passed the legislation with resounding, bipartisan votes, clearly demonstrating our intent and granting you the authorities to broker a just and fair peace,” the senators wrote. “These authorities require you to apply economic pressure on Russia and the chief enablers of its war, in particular China, and thereby enhance your negotiating position to bring a swift end to this ruinous conflict.”

Supporters of the sanctions package in the House also urged Trump to enforce the legislation.

“The president’s shameful and dangerous diesel deal with Russia – and his undercutting of Ukraine’s self-defense – reinforces how critical it is for Congress to make its will known and then work that will,” Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Massachusetts, told USA TODAY.