Zelenskyy says Trump is ‘rewarding Putin’ as he waives new Russia sanctions passed by Congress

Key Points:

• President Donald Trump waived new sanctions against Russia, citing it as being in the national interest, despite having signed the legislation named after late Sen. Lindsey Graham just last month.
• The sanctions aimed to target Russia’s oil and gas buyers, potentially including China and India, to cut off revenue streams supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine; suspending them provides Russia a financial lifeline.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the waiver as wrong and enabling Russia, warning it encourages further aggression, while many U.S. lawmakers from both parties criticized Trump’s decision as undermining national security and prolonging the war.
• Trump’s move follows a deal with Putin to release Russian diesel onto the global market amid soaring fuel prices, a key voter concern ahead of midterm elections, and comes despite bipartisan congressional support for the sanctions bill.
• The legislation requires an unclassified report to Congress before sanctions can be waived, which Trump says has been submitted, but the decision has sparked intense political backlash and raised questions about the administration’s approach to energy and foreign policy.