Trump pauses sanctions package targeted at Russian economy

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order that puts on hold a sweeping new sanctions package targeting the Russian economy, telling Congress the pause was in the national interest.

Trump personally signed the legislation last month. Named after late South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, it had sought to clamp down more quickly on the flow of financial resources fuelling the war against Ukraine.

The move comes a week after Trump stunningly said the U.S. had agreed to purchase diesel from Russia to try to bring down global energy prices, despite that potentially hurting Ukraine in its war with Russia.

An AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll published Oct. 1 found that Americans disapprove of the president's handling of the Iran war and blame him for higher prices. Trump's approval ratings have sunk to near-historic lows and pressure is mounting as Republicans try to hold control of both chambers of Congress on Election Day on Nov. 3.

Graham died in July but had advocated for stricter U.S. sanctions against Russia as a way of pressuring it to end its war in Ukraine. His colleagues in Congress responded with bipartisan support after his death and Trump attached his signature to the legislation — then changed his mind Friday.

The White House did not immediately explain how pausing the sanctions was in the national interest.

The decision was posted on the White House website late in the evening, and the notification noted that the report explaining the decision had been submitted to Congress.

Still, it comes as Trump has increasingly lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, blaming him for failing to make a deal with Putin to end the fighting.

The Trump administration has remained mostly quiet since the recent passage of the bill with large bipartisan majorities in the U.S. House and Senate after Graham's sudden death — with lawmakers urged ahead by Zelenskyy.

The U.S. president's latest action also followed him announcing last week that he had reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump said Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November and one million tons "immediately thereafter." Russia will deliver an additional 3 million tons "within a short period of time" after that, he wrote.

Trump's decision to strike a deal with Putin on diesel on the world market has been pilloried by Republicans and Democrats alike who say it will help Russia execute its war against Ukraine — without making a different to global fuel prices, which are elevated mostly due to Trump's war on Iran.

The sanctions that Trump has now suspended, meanwhile, also had become a campaign centrepiece for Sen.