Trump puts new Russia sanctions passed by Congress on hold, saying waiver is in US national interest

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order that puts on hold a sweeping new sanctions package targeting the Russian economy, telling Congress the pause was in the national interest.

Trump had signed the legislation last month. Named after late South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, the measure had sought to clamp down more quickly on the flow of financial resources fueling the war against Ukraine.

The move comes a week after Trump stunningly said the U.S. had agreed to purchase diesel from Russia to try and bring down global energy prices, despite that potentially hurting Ukraine in its war with Russia.

The Trump administration has remained mostly quiet since the recent passage of the bill with large bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate after Graham’s sudden death — with lawmakers urged ahead by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Trump’s latest action followed the president announcing on social media last week that he had reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call in which he was expected to discuss a suspected case of plague in Russia.

Instead, Trump announced that Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons “immediately thereafter.” Russia will deliver an additional 3 million tons “within a short period of time” after that, he wrote.

The measure also had become a campaign centerpiece for Sen. Darline Graham, the late senator’s sister appointed to serve out the remaining months in his current term, who is also running to replace him in the Senate more permanently.

In a debate earlier this week with Democratic nominee Annie Andrews, Graham — who has Trump’s endorsement and is expected to campaign with him in South Carolina next week — said she had been “so proud” to help get the measure passed but acknowledged it was the president’s purview as to how he implemented it.

“It gives the president tools that he can use if he so chooses, to end the war through economic sanctions,” Graham said Sunday during a debate in Columbia. “So that’s up to him as to whether or not he wants to use it, or whether he wants to use something else, but I think the purpose of it is to bring down the gas prices and ultimately end the war. And when the war ends, gas prices will fall.”