WASHINGTON, Oct 17 — President Donald Trump signed an executive order yesterday that waived sweeping US sanctions and tariffs targeting Russia’s energy revenues, marking a new low in Washington’s ties with war-torn Ukraine.
The move came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged EU leaders to keep financing Kyiv’s fight with nearly US$80 billion more next year, insisting he was standing up for his country as Trump’s support slumped.
The Lindsey Graham Act—named after the deceased US senator who sponsored the bill—had allowed Trump the authority to impose duties up to 100 per cent on major buyers of Russian oil and gas.
The legislation, which Trump signed into law last month, targeted Russia’s energy and defense sectors, President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials, as well as Moscow’s so-called shadow fleet of tankers used to circumvent Western sanctions.
