Paused Russia sanctions: Kyiv regrets move, Moscow hails it, Congress critics speak out
After Trump waived a new sanctions package, Zelenskyy urged supporters to back the measures. A Kremlin envoy called it a historic moment, while Sen. Blumenthal accused Trump of sucking up to Putin.
Archive image · Photo: President.gov.ua / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Criticism mounted Saturday, a day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order pausing new sanctions and tariffs on Russia. The law, named after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, would sanction Russian officials, banks and a shadow fleet of tankers. Trump signed it last month and paused it two days before a deadline for implementation, telling Congress the move was in the national interest without giving further details, AP reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the decision unfortunate but did not directly criticize Trump. He urged supporters to speak out for the sanctions, thanked Democrats and Republicans who backed the bill and said he hoped Trump would do everything possible to make Putin stop the killing. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who co-drafted the bill, said the waivers had “nothing to do with our national security, and everything to do with sucking up to Vladimir Putin.”
Moscow welcomed the move. Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev called it a historic moment, saying the package could have brought Russia-U.S. economic cooperation to a standstill, Euronews reported. Sanctions already imposed remain in place, according to ABC News. Trump had earlier announced the U.S. would buy Russian diesel to lower energy prices, a deal AP said Republicans and Democrats alike criticized as helping Russia's war effort.