Trump waives new Russia energy sanctions, approves diesel deal
U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order setting aside sweeping new sanctions on Russian energy days before they were due to take effect, saying the waiver is in the United States' "national interest".
The order, published by the White House on October 15 as "Implementing the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026," paused measures Trump had faced an October 18 deadline to impose under a law signed last month. The paused measures included duties on Russian goods and penalties for buying Russian oil and gas. Al Jazeera
Those blocked measures would have included tariffs of up to 100 percent on all goods imported into the U.S. from the five top importers of Russian crude oil or gas, including China and India. They could also have imposed penalties on countries found to have knowingly bought Russian oil or gas 30 days after implementation, or to be among the top five countries helping Moscow get around oil sales sanctions. The waiver will hold until the administration believes "further action is appropriate", according to the executive order.
Trump also announced a deal to bring stocks of Russian diesel fuel into global markets to drive down energy prices that spiked during the U.S.-Israel war on Iran. He said the deal would bring 300,000 tonnes of diesel fuel into U.S. and global markets immediately, followed by 500,000 tonnes in November, and 1 million tonnes afterwards. The U.S. Treasury waived sanctions on Russian diesel sales until April 2027.
The White House said the diesel agreement could help ease fuel prices and support efforts to restart peace negotiations over the war in Ukraine, according to Reuters video reporting. Reuters Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev hailed the decision to waive sanctions as "an important and truly historic moment".
The diesel plan drew sharp criticism from Ukraine and from some in Congress. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the deal as "a gift" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. U.S. Congressman Don Beyer said the waiver amounts to a "surrender to Putin" that betrays Ukrainian partners and defies congressional intent.
Trump accused European countries of "hypocrisy" over continued EU imports of Russian gas. Russian gas still accounts for around 12% of EU gas demand, and imports to the EU increased in early 2026. Between March 2022 and July 2026, Russia supplied the EU with €197 billion ($209 billion) worth of energy, according to Euronews reporting of EU data. Euronews
In September 2026, Hungary was the EU's largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels, importing EUR 475 million, including EUR 414 million worth of Russian pipeline gas. Economist Vasily Astrov estimated that about 60 cents of every extra dollar in the price of a barrel of Russian oil would end up in Russian state coffers. EU economy chief Valdis Dombrovskis said the U.S.-Russia diesel deal is unlikely to have a significant impact on global prices.
Separately, the United States was considering easing sanctions on some shadow-fleet vessels as of October 15, 2026. The U.S. Department of Energy said any move to relieve sanctions on the shadow fleet would not help Russia move oil or oil products. Reuters
