Trump Waives Russia Sanctions as Ukraine Pays the Price

President Donald Trump waived sanctions on Russia Friday, overturning restrictions Congress had passed with bipartisan support as Ukraine faced a separate U.S. restriction on military communications. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the decision “gifts to Putin” and warned that the United States formally siding with Russia would be a “historic mistake.”

The executive order outranks the vote

Trump signed the sanctions legislation the previous month, then set aside specific sanctions with an executive order on Friday. He said waiving them “is in the national interests of the United States.” The restrictions aimed to cut Russian revenue by penalizing global buyers of Russian oil and gas.

The waiver came after Trump reached a deal with Vladimir Putin to release hundreds of thousands of tons of Russian diesel onto the global market as fuel prices rose. The Hill reported that Trump had announced earlier in the month that he intended to lift sanctions, allowing 300,000 tons of Russian oil to supply the U.S. and global economies. Congress passed the sanctions package with bipartisan support, but Trump’s executive order brushed those restrictions aside.

Zelenskyy said he still hoped Trump would change course. “We want to trust him,” he told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “I hope that he will change his decisions, because I think that it's all mistakes, and it will not help us, and it will not help United States.” If the United States officially took Russia’s side, he said, “we will not prevail, and we will not be able to stand.” He called that prospect a “tragedy” and a “historic mistake and big tragedy,” adding, “I don't want to live in illusions, but I think that we have to be pragmatic.”

Pressure on Kyiv, civilians under fire

Zelenskyy said the United States briefly “blocked” intelligence sharing with Ukraine, leaving the country without information about incoming ballistic missiles, before restoring it. “We are very thankful for this,” he said. “Now it works.” The restriction on Ukraine’s use of Starshield, the military version of Starlink, remained in effect. Ukrainian officials believe Elon Musk’s SpaceX imposed the limit after a “message from American government,” Zelenskyy told NBC. Asked whether Trump or Musk made the decision directly, he said he didn’t know but thought “both” were involved.

European and Ukrainian officials previously told NBC they believed the intelligence interruption, which came days after Trump eased sanctions, was likely meant to pressure Kyiv into concessions amid stalled peace talks. Zelenskyy said that if Trump lifted the Starshield restriction, “it will immediately work as it was before.”

Russia struck energy facilities in four Ukrainian regions overnight, Zelenskyy said, cutting power to tens of thousands of families. He accused Moscow of trying to cause a blackout and violating Trump’s “energy ceasefire” 76 times. “America should see that Russia is not taking any reciprocal steps in response to sanctions relief or agreements,” he wrote on social media. “On the contrary, they take every signal of an opportunity to make money as proof that their bet on war is paying off and they can keep fighting.”

In Zaporizhzhia, Russian attacks killed a woman and wounded at least two other people, including a 6-year-old girl, local officials said. Ukraine also launched more than 1,000 drones at Russia in one of Kyiv’s largest aerial attacks of the war. Fires broke out at the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the city’s Ruchi oil depot. Local Gov. Alexander Beglov said at least one person was killed and five wounded. The companies confirmed that Russian retailer Ozon’s logistics center and a data center operated by Russian tech giant VK were also targeted.

Sanctions politics, with civilians left exposed

Former Vice President Pence urged Trump to restore sanctions and reverse the diesel agreement. “President Trump's decision to waive sanctions against Russia as Putin continues his brutal war of aggression against Ukraine dishonors the legacy of the late Senator Lindsey Graham and is decidedly not in the national interests of the United States and should be reversed,” Pence wrote on X. He added: “Putin is a war criminal and only understands strength.”

The deal drew criticism from both parties. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote on X, “This filthy deal will only aid and abet the same Putin who is helping the Iranians to target and try to kill American troops in the Middle East and who illegally and viciously invaded our ally Ukraine.” On Thursday, five House GOP lawmakers joined Democratic colleagues in urging Trump to cancel it. Energy Secretary Chris Wright defended the deal Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week”: “This is a carrot to try to end a war. It's not an economic lifeline for Russia.”

Zelenskyy said he was due to speak by phone with U.S. negotiators Sunday and remained hopeful of meeting in the days ahead. He later said he had spoken with U.S. presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about the Oct. 9 meeting between U.S. and Ukrainian negotiating teams in Miami and “next steps in diplomacy.” Trump told reporters late Saturday that they didn’t know what his decision on further sanctions would be, despite his executive order waiving planned restrictions. The people living with the consequences remain far from the rooms where sanctions, intelligence access and military communications are decided.