Zelensky Calls Trump’s Sanctions Waiver a Mistake

US President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend statutory sanctions and trade tariffs targeting Russia is a grave error that encourages Russian President Vladimir Putin to prolong the war, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Saturday, Oct. 17.

Speaking with journalists, Zelensky characterized the executive waiver of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 as part of an expanding pattern of economic concessions to Moscow that risks emboldening the Kremlin.

“Unfortunately, the lifting of sanctions will continue,” Zelensky stated.

“I consider the diesel deal to be the first step. It seems to me that it is impossible to stop Putin in this way. On the contrary, he feels joy, happiness that he has such support. And still, we strongly hope, and I personally do, that the President of the United States of America will do everything so that Putin stops the killings, stops strikes on our energy, and stops this war.”

Zelensky stressed that coercing Kyiv into limiting asymmetric responses while easing economic restrictions on Moscow will not bring an end to hostilities.

“This cannot be achieved by restricting Ukraine’s responses against Russia for killing people,” Zelensky emphasized. “And certainly not by lifting sanctions.”

Bipartisan congressional action

Zelensky thanked members of the US Congress for securing the passage of the Graham Act, lamenting the White House’s decision to bypass legislation that enjoyed overwhelming bipartisan backing.

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“I am grateful to his [Lindsey Graham’s] friends in Congress who supported this law. It was a great victory – truly such bipartisan support for this law,” Zelensky said.

“And now the decision to cancel all of this, to block all of this, seems to me to be wrong. It definitely helps only the Russians. It definitely does not stop the war.”

The presidential remarks come 24 hours after Trump signed an executive order on Friday, Oct. 16, waiving sweeping trade duties and secondary sanctions enacted under the Graham Act just 48 hours before statutory enforcement was scheduled to commence on Sunday, Oct. 18.

The suspended provisions included an additional 500 percent tariff on all Russian-origin imports alongside mandatory 100 percent duties targeting the five largest global purchasers of Russian crude oil and natural gas, such as China and India.

The waiver also halted enforcement against third-party countries facilitating petroleum sanctions evasion and suspended actions aimed at dismantling Moscow’s maritime “shadow fleet” of oil tankers.

Section 115 waivers

In the executive order, Trump invoked Section 115 of the Graham Act, which authorizes the executive branch to waive statutory penalties upon certifying to Congress that such action serves US national interests. However, the administration did not provide public details regarding the strategic rationale for the determination.

The presidential waiver follows a bilateral commercial agreement unveiled on Oct. 9 between Trump and Putin, under which Moscow consented to export refined diesel fuel onto international markets through 2027 to ease consumer fuel costs ahead of the US midterm elections.

To enable the shipments, the US Treasury Department issued a general license authorizing transactions involving Russian diesel through April 2027.

Ukrainian officials have warned that opening global markets to Russian refined hydrocarbons provides Moscow with vital hard-currency earnings that underwrite military operations and long-range bombardments against Ukraine’s municipal power grid.

Zelensky reiterated that durable de-escalation requires intensifying allied economic pressure and maintaining enforceable deterrence, cautioning that unilateral accommodations only incentivize further Russian aggression ahead of the winter season.