\u201cI think it\u2019s clear Russia is the aggressor, and we\u2019ve got to do everything we can to put economic pressure on Russia,\u201d Senator Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, said in an interview with The Associated Press. \u201cSo it\u2019s not the first thing I would be doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBeyond irresponsible,\u201d said Senator Thom Tillis, on social media, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed hope that the sanctions that were supposed to take effect targeting Russia’s economy could be revived.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat part of enforcing a law passed 86-11 by the Senate does the President and his advisors not understand?\u201d Tillis said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unconscionable that this administration is capitulating to a Russian dictator who illegally invaded Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas said \u201cLindsey would be appalled,\u201d referring to the late Senator Lindsey Graham, who worked endlessly on the bill before he died this summer. <\/p>\n
The bill is known as the Lindsey Graham Russian Sanctions Act.<\/p>\n
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in a statement that \u201cby giving the Russian economy life support, Trump\u2019s deal with the devil keeps getting dirtier\u201d.<\/p>\n
Senator Elizabeth Warren said Trump is \u201cthumbing his nose\u201d at Congress and \u201cenabling Vladimir Putin to continue his war of aggression\u201d. She urged her colleagues to take action to reverse course.<\/p>\n
![\"Ukrainian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/zelensky-P4CTTYSWJFBHJLDKSXZJ3SYZSI.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke out against Trump’s decision. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
Trump’s actions come as Ukraine is bracing for a stark winter confronting Russia’s ongoing attacks on its energy infrastructure to heat homes and keep the lights on. Zelensky, who has endured a rocky relationship with Trump but stayed close to the US lawmakers, urged supporters to speak out on behalf of the sanctions.<\/p>\n
The next steps are highly uncertain with the House and Senate on recess until after Election Day. <\/p>\n
Trump said he was waiving the sanctions indefinitely, citing national security concerns. <\/p>\n
It is unlikely Congress would be in a position to take any action to challenge Trump\u2019s moves until lawmakers return to Washington.<\/p>\n
Skeptics in Congress warned Trump would not follow the law<\/p>\n
It took almost a year for Graham to persuade Trump to agree to the Russian sanctions package. It was designed to impose steep tariffs on countries that import large amounts of Russian oil and energy products and was promoted as a way to halt the flow of funds fueling Putin’s four-year war against Ukraine.<\/p>\n
But even as Zelensky had watched from the visitor gallery as the Senate advanced the package after Graham’s death, skeptics in Congress warned Trump would be unlikely to follow the bill once he had signed it into law a month ago.<\/p>\n
Last week, a bipartisan group of senators urged the Trump administration to more quickly clamp down on Russia, particularly the \u201cshadow fleet\u201d of tankers that Moscow is using to transport oil and bypass America\u2019s sanctions. <\/p>\n
The senators noted that the bulk of the new law’s provisions were to be effective.<\/p>\n
Instead, Trump soon announced the diesel deal with Putin, saying that Russia had agreed to supply tons of fuel to the US, where gas prices have skyrocketed in some areas and voters are saying affordability issues are a top concern.<\/p>\n
Outraged lawmakers have pledged to stop the Trump-Putin deal.<\/p>\n
New York representative Gregory Meeks, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee who had led opposition to the Graham bill \u2014 warning that Trump would flout the law \u2014 introduced legislation that would block Trump’s diesel deal with Putin. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt a time when the United States should be increasing pressure on the Kremlin, Donald Trump is cosying up to Putin and striking self-enriching deals instead of standing with Ukraine,” Meeks said in a statement.<\/p>\n
He called the deal \u201ccorrupt\u201d and said it \u201cgoes against everything the United States stands for.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Saturday (local time), he said that “Congress is not helpless” and must act.<\/p>\n
![\"Republican](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/darline-graham-PMQFPZPMPRAM3EPPVZNDRV3T3M.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Republican Darline Graham, sister of Lindsey Graham. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
Graham’s legacy on the line<\/p>\n
Graham’s sister, Darline Graham of South Carolina, helped ensure Senate passage of the bill, once she was appointed by the state’s governor to fill her brother’s seat.<\/p>\n
She is now running against Democrat Annie Andrews in a tight race. Trump is expected in the state next week to rally voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, the president and I share the same goal, which is to end the war, to get gas and diesel prices down, and the sanctions bill is one of the tools he can use to do that,\u201d Darline Graham said at a campaign stop.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s up to him whether or not he chooses to use it. Personally, I would choose to keep the pressure on Russia,\u201d she said, \u201cbecause I don\u2019t trust Putin and I don\u2019t trust Russia\u201d.<\/p>\n
Like her brother, who often publicly parted ways with the president, Darline Graham said she and Trump can have their differences.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am proud of it to help get across the finish line. It meant a lot to Lindsey,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut you know, like Lindsey, he disagreed with the president sometimes they had that relationship where they could agree to disagree sometimes. And I think that just happens.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to waive sanctions on Russia days before they were to take effect drew outrage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633983,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[65,42,43,64,1979,40,38,41,39,1745,66],"class_list":["post-633982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-donald-trump","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-north-america","tag-russia-invades-ukraine","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-uk-europe","tag-us-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}