Ukraine laments Trump's decision on sanctions against Russia and calls it "historic"

Ukraine laments Trump's decision and Russia celebrates it October 17, 2026 The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, lamented this Saturday (10/17/2026) that his American counterpart, Donald Trump, signed an executive order the previous night temporarily suspending the application of a broad package of sanctions against Russia for "national interest." "At a time when Russia has launched such a massive attack against our energy sector, it is regrettable that in the United States the decision has been made to completely ignore the Lindsey Graham Act, which was supposed to exert truly effective pressure on Russia to end this war," Zelenskyy wrote on his social media. "That the United States disregard the sanctions, that the pressure on the aggressor is relaxed, and that Putin is financially rewarded serves only to encourage him to keep attacking," he added. Trump's decision affects a law named after the deceased Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who was one of Ukraine's greatest defenders in the United States Congress, which seeks to tighten sanctions against the Russian economy and limit the war machinery that finances the war against the European country. "This law could have been of great help, and it still can be! But it must be applied for real, and every voice that rises in its support is important," Zelenskyy stressed. Russia celebrates the decision Moscow had previously congratulated him through Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's envoy who participated in direct talks with American representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in recent months to discuss the future of the conflict in Ukraine. "The suspension by the Trump administration of the Graham Act is an important and truly historic moment," Dmitriev said on his social media. The US President backed down from sanctions against Moscow after reaching an agreement with Putin for Russia to supply diesel to the US and global markets in exchange for a relief of US sanctions. All this a few weeks before the mid-term elections on November 3 in the United States, where popular discontent has grown with the rise in fuel prices, resulting from the war with Iran initiated in February by the American and Israeli armies. Trump is playing for the Republican majority in Congress. Dmitriev said on this account that the application of the Graham Act would have caused "serious damage first and foremost, and above all, to the economy of the United States and the global markets."