Donald Trump has blocked numerous sanctions on Russia two days before they were due to take effect, as a row with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky deepens.
The sanctions were passed by the US Congress and signed into law by Trump in September.
But the US president issued an executive order on Friday night saying that suspending some was in the US “national interest”, prompting a backlash from US lawmakers. Zelensky said it was unfortunate the US has decided to “completely disregard” the sanctions.
Relations between Washington and Kyiv frayed after the US struck a controversial deal to import Russian diesel. Ukraine then accused the Trump administration of withdrawing key military support.
Trump and Zelensky have exchanged sharp words about one another. Ukraine’s president declared it was nice to be among “real leaders” while addressing an EU summit, after Trump said Zelensky was “more difficult to deal with” than Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The new US sanctions law took aim at Russia’s economy, giving Trump broad powers to levy tariffs of up to 100% on imports from the top five purchasers of Russian oil and gas – most significantly China and India.
It also included sanctions against senior Russian figures, including Putin, as well as Russian financial institutions and Moscow’s so-called “shadow fleet” of vessels used to circumvent existing embargoes.
Many of these provisions have now been waived by Trump.
Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev called the waiver “an important and truly historic moment”.
Posting on X, he said the sanctions would have inflicted “serious damage” primarily on the US and global market, and that economic cooperation benefits both nations.
Democrats including the Virginia Congressman Don Beyer have criticised the move, accusing Trump of capitulating to Moscow and turning his back on Kyiv and Zelensky.
“Trump’s latest surrender to Putin again betrays our Ukrainian partners and defies clear congressional intent of legislation designed to punish Russia for its illegal war of aggression,” Beyer wrote on X.
The move is likely to draw further anger from Ukraine, where Zelensky has long stressed the need for stringent sanctions to limit funding Russia can use in its war effort.
Zelensky said on Saturday morning that the sanctions “could have helped enormously” and that the law was “supposed to impose truly effective pressure on Russia to bring this war to an end”.
He pointed to Russian overnight attacks on 15 Ukrainian energy facilities that had caused power cuts in several regions and said: “Russia is trying to cause a blackout in Ukraine – right before winter.”
Zelensky said was “important that everyone in America also sees what is really happening” on the ground. (BBC News)