Palm Beach, October 18, 2026 – The Europe Today: US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order waiving key sanctions and tariffs on Russia under the law known as the Graham Act, a move that comes just weeks before November’s midterm elections as his administration faces mounting pressure over high energy prices driven by the war with Iran.
“A lot of you don’t know what my decision is yet, but we’ll figure it out, and you’ll figure it out,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
The order, signed on Friday, suspends measures under the legislation that Trump signed into law last month at the urging of lawmakers seeking to increase pressure on Moscow over its war in Ukraine. The measures, which include tariffs on Russian goods and penalties on countries purchasing Russian oil and gas, had been due to take effect next week.
Although the executive order did not specify the duration of the waiver, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the President had opted for a 60-day review.
“I think the president wants to take the 60-day period of time to sort of analyze what imposing both sanctions and tariffs will mean to the global economy and even to the US economy,” Rubio told reporters before departing on a visit to Uzbekistan.
The issue is further complicated by the Graham Act’s provisions calling not only for sanctions on Russia but also for tariffs on goods from countries that import Russian energy. Rubio pointed to India, an important US partner that has diversified its energy sources but remains heavily reliant on Russian oil.
The executive order drew criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who warned that it would embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin and prolong the war.
Senator Darline Graham, a South Carolina Republican whose late brother Lindsey Graham championed the legislation that bears his name, said she disagreed with the President’s decision and intended to raise the matter with him when he campaigns for her next week.
“Personally, I would choose to keep the pressure on Russia,” she told reporters on Saturday. “Because I don’t trust Putin and I don’t trust Russia.”
Diesel Supply Agreement
Rubio also defended a separate agreement between the United States and Russia to increase diesel supplies to global markets, aimed at easing fuel prices that have risen amid the conflict with Iran and the resulting disruption to energy supplies.
Under the agreement, Trump said Russia would initially supply more than 300,000 metric tons of diesel to the United States, followed by further shipments in November and beyond.
“That diesel is going to be sold one way or the other,” Rubio said. “The only difference is how much of it the United States was going to get.”
Rubio said the diesel agreement and the sanctions waiver reflected the challenge of managing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, which have significantly disrupted global energy supplies.
