Trump Imposed "Hellish Sanctions" Against Russia. And Immediately Revoked Them

Donald Trump imposed new massive sanctions against Russia and tariffs against countries that buy its oil and gas – and then immediately revoked them. A law passed by Congress obligated him to impose "hellish sanctions" by October 18, writes the BBC.

Experts expected precisely this turn of events, as Trump consistently pursues a policy of rapprochement with Russia and attempts to bring Vladimir Putin back to the international stage.

Almost all US sanctions against Russia for the 2022 invasion of Ukraine had previously been introduced by presidential decrees, and Donald Trump could revoke them at any time. The new act legislatively formalizes existing restrictions and obligates Trump to introduce new ones.

However, it also grants the president the right to suspend any sanctions against Russia under the pretext of defending US national interests.

Trump exercised this right.

On the evening of the last business day before the expiration of the 30-day period allotted by law, he issued a decree introducing and immediately suspending indefinitely all new sanctions stipulated in the document.

"Hereby, I am suspending the application of sanctions, restrictive measures, and duties provided for by the Graham Act," Trump's Friday decree states. "I have sent an official confirmation to Congress that granting such a deferral at this stage is in the national interests of the United States."

Trump recently used the same pretext not to strengthen, but to weaken sanctions once again. After a conversation with Putin a week ago, Trump lifted the ban on purchasing Russian diesel "in the interests of Americans" who are suffering from high prices ahead of the midterm Congressional elections.

Even before this, Trump had suspended sanctions against the Russian oil industry – the Kremlin's main source of revenue for the war. With the same goal – to lower oil, gasoline, and diesel prices, which had surged due to his war with Iran.

This war is in full swing, prices continue to rise, and even without escalation, the deficit will persist at least until spring 2027, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned this week. This means Trump will continue to have reasons to soften sanctions against Russia, rather than making them tougher, as mandated by the new law named after the late Senator Lindsey Graham.

"Trump Always Wanted to Lift Sanctions"

"The fact that Trump is lifting sanctions on Russia should surprise no one who has followed him for the past ten years. The story with diesel and the midterm elections is just a pretext, not the reason. He is doing this because he always wanted to lift sanctions on Russia," writes Ruth Deyermond, a Russia expert from King's College London.

She reminds that as soon as Donald Trump first became president in 2017, Congress rushed to legislatively enshrine all sanctions introduced up to that point by Barack Obama's decrees against Russia for Crimea, Donbas, and interference in the 2016 American elections, so that Trump could not revoke them.

Trump reluctantly signed the CAATSA law, passed by an overwhelming majority, but was not in a hurry to impose sanctions until 2018.

The history of the first term repeated itself with surprising accuracy with Trump's return for a second term in 2025.

As soon as he entered the White House, the intensification of sanctions pressure on Russia from the US diminished, notes the American Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Meanwhile, Congress tried to legalize a new set of sanctions, already introduced by Joe Biden's decrees after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. And again, Trump resisted.

"Trump is so opposed to anti-Russian sanctions that the White House delayed the advancement of a bill for almost a year and a half, a bill that doesn't even oblige Trump to impose them," notes Ruth Deyermond.

How Trump Can Soften Sanctions

Indeed, the "hellish sanctions" law gives the president the right to suspend their actions indefinitely at his discretion, and Congress cannot prevent this in any way.

It is enough for Trump to write a brief justification as to why the suspension is "in the national interests of the USA" and send it to parliament; moreover, the justification can be partially classified, so the public will not even know the exact reason why the sanctions were lifted.

The main danger of the new law lies in these indulgences, believes Daniel Fried, former coordinator of US State Department sanctions policy, who participated in the development of the first sanctions against the Kremlin under Obama.

"I fear that the Trump administration will not apply the toughest provisions of the law and will simply issue deferrals and waivers from sanctions," he writes.

The toughest provision Fried refers to is the right to declare a trade war on countries that buy oil and gas from Russia, thereby helping it finance the invasion of Ukraine.

Tariffs are Trump's favorite foreign policy tool. And he pushed the law forward only when Congress included the right to impose duties of up to 100% on imports to the US from the top 5 countries that purchase Russian oil and gas or help the Kremlin circumvent sanctions.

Both congressmen and experts expressed concerns that Trump would use this specific provision to continue his trade war with the rest of the world, as his previous tariffs have repeatedly been declared illegal by courts.

The main buyers of Russian oil are China, India, and Turkey, and secondary sanctions in the form of duties on their goods are potentially capable of reducing demand for Russian oil, primarily in India. However, India is one of the largest suppliers of diesel to global markets, and there is no substitute for Russian oil in the conditions of the Persian Gulf crisis.

Therefore, pressure on Russian oil buyers directly contradicts Trump's stated goals – to lower fuel prices. While the war in Iran is ongoing, the application of the toughest measure of the new Lindsey Graham Act should not be expected. The same goes for the second toughest and newest stick – sanctions against Russia's shadow fleet.

This fleet transports almost 80% of Russian oil exports and is steadily adapting to the sanctions regime. It is all the more important to constantly update the lists of vessels, which the EU and Britain do. Meanwhile, under Trump, the US stopped imposing new sanctions against it.

The new law obliges the president to do this and allows simply copying sanctions lists from allies.

However, here too, the wind is blowing in the opposite direction due to the Iranian war. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright this week allowed for the softening of sanctions against Russia's shadow fleet. The goal is to lower excessively high freight prices by allowing legitimate shipowners to replenish their fleet by purchasing sanctioned vessels with the permission of US authorities.

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