Donald Trump has blocked numerous sanctions on Russia two days before they were due to take effect, as a row with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky deepens.
The sanctions were passed by the US Congress and signed into law by Trump in September.
But the US president issued an executive order on Friday night saying that suspending some was in the US “national interest”, prompting a backlash from US lawmakers.
Relations between Washington and Kyiv frayed this week, after the US struck a controversial deal to import Russian diesel. Ukraine then accused the Trump administration of withdrawing key military support.
Trump and Zelensky have exchanged sharp words about one another throughout the week. Ukraine’s president barbed that it was nice to be among “real leaders” while addressing an EU summit, after Trump said he was “more difficult to deal with” than Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The new US sanctions law took aim at Russia’s economy, giving Trump broad powers to levy tariffs of up to 100% on imports from the top five purchasers of Russian oil and gas – most significantly China and India.
It also included sanctions against senior Russian figures, including Putin, as well as Russian financial institutions and Moscow’s so-called “shadow fleet” of vessels used to circumvent existing embargoes.
Many of these provisions have now been waived by Trump.
