Trump officially refused to impose sanctions against Russia as provided for in the law of Graham
On the night of October 17 (Kyiv time), U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order blocking the sanctions against Russia provided for in the law of Lindsey Graham. The decision was made against the backdrop of a global fuel crisis.
This is stated in an official White House statement. Channel 24 reports on what we know at this time.
Trump Refused to Impose Sanctions Against Russia Under the Graham Act: What Happened?
According to the official document, Donald Trump invoked Section 115 of the law of Graham (the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026), which allows the president to temporarily suspend restrictions for national security reasons. According to the U.S. presidential executive order, the application of any tariffs on Russian goods or sanctions is suspended.
...I hereby waive the application of such sanctions, restrictions, and obligations... I have submitted a report to Congress stating that such a waiver is currently in the national interest of the United States,
the document states.
At the same time, the basic provisions of the law formally remain in effect. However, their actual enforcement is suspended until further notice.
Why did Trump take this step?
The decision to suspend the sanctions mechanism is directly linked to the “diesel deal” that Donald Trump concluded with Vladimir Putin on October 9, 2026. Due to the war with Iran and the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the average price of diesel fuel in the U.S. reached $6.18 per gallon.
This forced the U.S. administration to seek quick ways to address the shortage ahead of the midterm elections. Under the terms of the agreement, Russia committed to immediately supplying more than 300,000 metric tons of diesel to global markets, and on October 13, the first tanker had already set sail from the Russian port of Primorsk.
Immediately afterward, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a general license exempting Russian fuel from sanctions through April 2027. The U.S. president’s actions have already drawn harsh bipartisan criticism in Congress.