Trump issued an executive order Friday night to suspend several Russia sanctions that Congress passed and Trump signed into law in September, citing US national interest. The sanctions freeze was scheduled to take effect two days later.
The waived sanctions targeted Russia's economy with provisions including tariffs up to 100 percent on imports from major purchasers of Russian oil and gas, such as China and India. They also included sanctions against senior Russian officials including President Vladimir Putin, Russian financial institutions, and Russia's shadow fleet of vessels used to circumvent existing embargoes.
Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev called the waiver "an important and truly historic moment" and said the sanctions would have caused "serious damage" primarily to the US and global markets.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the suspended sanctions "could have helped enormously" and were "supposed to impose truly effective pressure on Russia to bring this war to an end." He added that Russia launched overnight attacks on 15 Ukrainian energy facilities, causing power cuts ahead of winter.
The waiver deepens tensions between Trump and Zelensky. The two leaders exchanged sharp criticism after the US struck a controversial deal to import Russian diesel last week. Ukraine accused the Trump administration of withdrawing key military support. Zelensky said it was "nice to be among real leaders" while addressing an EU summit after Trump called Zelensky "more difficult to deal with" than Putin.
Democrats criticized the move. Virginia Congressman Don Beyer wrote on X that "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."
Tensions also escalated over Starlink network disruptions. Ukraine said the satellite system suddenly restricted drone speeds, hampering battlefield operations during Russian strikes that killed at least nine people in the past 24 hours. Trump denied deliberately slowing Starlink. Zelensky told reporters US officials blamed technical issues, but Ukraine tested Starlink in EU territory and found no such problems.
Zelensky said he believed Trump would lift additional sanctions and that negotiators from both countries could meet next week.