US President Donald Trump signed an order on Friday, 16 October, under which the tariffs and the sanctions provisions listed in it of the law named after Lindsey Graham will not be applied; he signed the law itself on 18 September.
Among the measures the president waived are an additional 500% on tariffs on Russian goods and an additional 100% on goods from the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas in the event of new purchases from 18 October. Previously imposed sanctions remain in force. The waiver has no end date: it stays in effect until the president or the secretary of state decides that further action is needed. According to the order, an assurance has been sent to Congress that the waiver is in the national interest, but the document itself gives no reasons.
Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president's special representative, wrote on Telegram that the suspension of the law is "an important and truly historic moment". Volodymyr Zelensky said the decision was taken at a time of a massive attack on Ukraine's energy sector and only encourages Russia to keep attacking. Democrat Don Beyer called the waiver a gift to Putin.
Sources: the order on the White House website; Reuters (as published by The Moscow Times); CBS News; RIA Novosti.
