OMM Newsroom
US President Donald Trump has used his presidential authority to block several sanctions on Russia that Congress passed over the country’s war in Ukraine, according to BBC World.
In an executive order issued on Friday night, Trump said withholding some of the sanctions was in the US “national interests”. He signed the sanctions bill into law in September, and it was due to take effect on Sunday.
The move came days after Trump said the US would import Russian diesel in an effort to lower US energy prices before the midterm elections in November, which will determine which party controls Congress. The plan shocked lawmakers and prompted a bipartisan backlash.
The sanctions law is named after the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who was one of Ukraine’s strongest defenders in Washington before his death on 11 July.
The law targets Russia’s economy and gives Trump broad powers to impose tariffs of up to 100% on the five largest purchasers of Russian oil and gas, most notably China and India.
It also provides for sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin, senior Russian government figures, banks and other financial institutions, as well as Russia’s “shadow fleet” of tankers used to evade existing sanctions.
On Thursday, a bipartisan group of 20 US lawmakers sent Trump a letter urging him to uphold the new law, which is due to take effect on 18 October. They thanked him for signing the bill and called for its “full and faithful implementation”.
The lawmakers said the measures would be “decisive in forcing Putin to take peace talks seriously” and urged the Trump administration “to apply the Graham law’s sanctions to their fullest extent and without delay”.
Last week, Trump said he had spoken by phone with Putin and agreed to purchase diesel from Moscow. US allies criticised the move, expressing concern that it could support Russia’s war effort.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the deal a gift to Putin and “an investment in a war that must be ended”.
