President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday, October 17, waiving sweeping US sanctions and tariffs targeting Russia, according to France 24 reporting based on AFP. The measures were adopted by Congress in September and were due to take effect two days after the waiver was signed, the report says.
On Saturday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the waiver would be a 60-day pause to "analyse" the impact of the sanctions and tariffs on the global economy, including the US economy. He cited conflicts involving the US war on Iran and attacks on Saudi Arabia by Yemen's Houthis as pressures on global energy prices.
The waiver follows a deal Trump struck with Vladimir Putin to allow exports of Russian diesel in exchange for easing sanctions, the report says. Republican senators Thom Tillis and Ted Cruz criticised the move. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said it "rewards" Putin and that he feared further sanctions relief. Trump said the decision would benefit the US, though reporting said it was unclear whether he had finalised the matter.
This dispatch is based on a public report by France 24. We label it reported; a report is not an independent confirmation.
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