American President Donald Trump signed a decree suspending a package of sanctions on the Russian economy, approved by Congress, stating that the measure is in the national interest.
© Lusa
17/10/2026
by
Lusa
O President Donald Trump signed on Friday a presidential decree suspending a new comprehensive package of sanctions aimed at the Russian economy, stating to Congress that suspension is in the national interest.
The legislation, promulgated last month and named after the late Senator Lindsey Graham, aimed to limit more quickly the flow of financial resources that fuel the war against Ukraine.
The measure appears a week after Trump said, surprisingly, that the United States agreed to buy gas oil from Russia to try to lower global energy prices, although this could harm Ukraine in the war with Moscow.
The Trump Administration has been virtually silent since the recent approval of the bill by a large bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, following the sudden death of Senator Lindsey Graham — with legislators being urged to act by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump's latest action followed the announcement he made on social media last week that he reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 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 a million tons “immediately next.”.
Russia will deliver another three million tons “in a short time” after that, Donald Trump wrote.
The measure also became one of the main themes of Senator Darline Graham's campaign, appointed to serve the remaining months of her brother's term, Lindsey Graham, and who also applied to succeed her in the Senate.
In a debate earlier this week with Democratic candidate Annie Andrews, Darline Graham, who has Trump’s support and should campaign with the President in South Carolina next week, said that she felt “very proud” for helping approve the measure, but acknowledged that it was up to the President to decide how to implement it.
“Give the President tools that he can use, if he decides so, to end the war through economic sanctions,” Graham said on Sunday during a debate in Columbia.
“So it is up to you to decide whether you want to use them or not, or whether you prefer to use another measure, but I think the goal is to lower petrol prices and ultimately put an end to the war. And when the war is over, gasoline prices will drop,” he added.