Russia hails Trump waiving sanctions as 'historic'

US President Donald Trump waives Russia sanctions, sparking criticism from Ukraine and European partners.

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US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order waiving newly-passed Russia sanctions, claiming the move is in the US's 'national interest'. The sanctions were part of legislation passed in Congress with bipartisan support last month, named after the late US Senator Lindsay Graham, an outspoken critic of Russia.

The waiver will hold until the Trump administration believes 'further action is appropriate', according to the executive order. The US Treasury waived sanctions on Russian diesel sales until April 2027. Trump's embrace of Russian energy has angered Ukraine, European partners, and many US officials, who say the move rewards Moscow while it continues its four-and-a-half-year war against its neighbour.

Ukraine's President Volodmyr Zelenskyy slammed Trump's diesel deal as 'a gift' to Russia's President Vladimir Putin that will help fund his war effort. While European countries have also criticised Trump's embrace of Russian energy, the US president has accused them of 'hypocrisy', as figures show that European Union countries continue to import Russian gas.

Russian official Kirill Dmitriev, an envoy for Putin, hailed the US decision to waive the sanctions as 'an important and truly historic moment'. Vasily Astrov, an economist at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, estimated that about 60 cents of every extra dollar in the price of a barrel of Russian oil would 'end up in state coffers'.