President Donald Trump has suspended a newly enacted sanctions and tariff regime aimed at Russia and countries buying Russian oil and gas, saying the waiver was in the United States’ national interest.¹

The measure, signed into law in September, would have allowed tariffs of up to 100% on imports from major purchasers of Russian energy and other countries deemed to be helping Moscow circumvent sanctions. The suspension comes before the provisions were due to take effect and will remain in place until Trump or senior advisers decide that further action is warranted.¹

Trump’s position emphasizes executive flexibility and the potential domestic consequences of tougher measures. Analysts cited in one account warned that the planned tariffs could have added to oil-price pressures ahead of the US midterm elections, while China and India — major buyers of Russian oil — had raised concerns about the proposed penalties.¹

Zelensky offered the opposite reading: that delaying the law removes a potentially effective source of leverage just as Ukraine faces renewed Russian strikes. “The suspension of US sanctions, the easing of pressure on the aggressor, the financial rewards for Putin — all of this only encourages him to continue attacking,” he said after reporting attacks on more than 15 Ukrainian power-generation and transmission facilities.¹

In a separate statement, the Ukrainian president said the decision came as Russia had delivered “such a severe blow to our energy infrastructure” and lamented that Washington had chosen to “completely ignore” the Lindsey Graham legislation. He argued that the law “could — and still can — make an enormous difference.”²

Both accounts describe a law intended to increase economic pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. Their disagreement is over timing and consequence: Trump’s administration presents the pause as serving US interests, while Kyiv sees it as reducing pressure when it considers that pressure most necessary.