Trump waives several Russia sanctions as row with Zelensky intensifies

Washington
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 the US president in September.
But Trump 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.
Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev said Trump’s order was “an important and truly historic moment”, and that the sanctions would have inflicted “serious damage” on the US and global market.
Relations between Washington and Kyiv frayed after the US struck a controversial deal to import Russian diesel last week. Ukraine has accused the Trump administration of withdrawing key military support.
Since then, 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 sanctions suspension seemed to add further fuel to the fire.
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 it was “important that everyone in America also sees what is really happening” on the ground.
The new US sanctions law took aim at Russia’s economy by 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.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the suspension would consist of a 60-day pause to allow for the Trump administration to analyse the impact they might have on the US and global economy.
The suspension drew criticism from US politicians from both main parties.
Democrats including the Virginia Congressman Don Beyer criticised the move, accusing Trump of capitulating to Moscow and turning his back on Kyiv and Zelensky.
A handful of Republicans also came out against the move.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a Trump ally, called waiving the sanctions a mistake, telling Fox News that there were other ways to address fuel prices, while the state’s other Senatory John Cornyn called the move “reckless”.
North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis called it “beyond irresponsible”, arguing that Trump could bring energy prices down by ending the Iran war instead of “doing a solid” for Putin.
Nebraska Representative Don Bacon indicated that US lawmakers will now resist funding Trump’s agenda.