Two days before its deadline, President Trump has signed an executive order waiving the core of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, which Congress passed 86–11 in the Senate and 262–159 in the House. By removing the threat of 100% tariffs on the largest buyers of Russian oil and gas, and on the countries that help Russia evade sanctions, the order tells Putin’s biggest customers they can keep buying without penalty. That keeps billions in oil and gas revenue flowing into the Kremlin’s war budget. The order also waives most of the law’s mandatory sanctions, including those on Russia’s state banks that move that money.
Only hours earlier, a White House official told Newsweek that “the administration will comply with the act’s requirements.” Bloomberg reports the measures were waived because they complicated the President’s push to lower diesel prices before the midterms. It caps a week in which the President announced Russia would supply diesel to global markets, and Ukrainian drone and strike units lost full use of their military Starlink terminals after a speed restriction that, according to US officials cited by Reuters, came from inside the White House; the President denies ordering it. Europe has so far held the line, adopting on Monday the largest-ever package of EU sanctions listings. With Washington stepping back, Europe’s next decisions now matter more than ever.
Dr Svitlana Romanko, Founder and Executive Director of Razom We Stand, said:
“Today President Trump did not just let Putin’s customers off the hook. He reopened the cash register for the Kremlin. Every refinery that keeps buying Russian crude without a tariff, and every tanker that sails without penalty, sends fresh money straight into Putin’s war budget. That is the budget that pays for the missiles and drones hitting Ukraine’s power plants, hospitals and homes as winter begins. In a single week, Ukraine’s drones were slowed, Putin’s diesel was welcomed back onto world markets, and now the sanctions Congress demanded have been shelved, hours after the White House promised to comply with them. This is not pressure for peace. It is financing for war. Senator Graham fought for this law until his last days, and Congress must not let it die quietly. Europe must now lead: close every remaining Russian energy loophole this month, and prove that the democratic world will keep starving Putin’s war machine even when the White House will not.”
Summary and calls to action
The US waivers keep sanctions under earlier executive orders in place, but switch off the new, mandatory pressure Congress voted for, and they have no end date. In Europe, EU firms can still ship Russian LNG to buyers outside the EU, and a decision on banning LNG tanker sales to Russia is due by 25 October, ahead of the EU’s full ban on Russian LNG imports from the end of 2026.
To stand with Ukraine:
- Washington must reverse the Graham Act waivers and enforce the law as written, rescind General License No. 135 for the Russian diesel deal, and guarantee Ukraine’s military full and uninterrupted Starlink access.
- Congress must demand public release of the waiver certification and report, hold urgent hearings, and act to stop Russian energy revenues being restored by executive order.
- The EU must ban LNG tanker sales to Russia at the review due by 25 October, end the exemption that lets EU operators carry Russian LNG worldwide, and deliver the full Russian gas and oil import ban without delay.
- Europe and G7 allies must rule out any easing of Russian energy sanctions, back alternative satellite communications for Ukraine, and accelerate cheaper, homegrown renewables that no tyrant can switch off.
