World / Americas

A sanctions waiver, and what it quietly changes

Washington signed, few noticed, and the consequences run through energy markets far from the capital. A law meant to squeeze Moscow was switched off days before it bit.

Washington, United States · October 18, 2026

Days before they were due to bite, President Donald Trump waived many of the sanctions, restrictions and duties created by the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, the law he signed in mid-September. The executive order certified the waiver as being in the national interests of the United States. A law sold as the toughest squeeze yet on Moscow's war chest survived less than a month before the president who signed it switched it off.

What was shelved was substantial: tariffs of up to 100 percent, due within 30 days, on goods from the five largest importers of Russian crude oil or gas, and on countries knowingly buying Russian oil or gas. India was among the buyers raising concerns in Washington, and it is worth being clear about who the waiver helps. It helps every government that kept buying Russian energy and waited to see whether Washington meant it. This week they got their answer.

The move drew criticism from both parties in Washington, and a sharp response from Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the waiver, noting it came as Russia carried out one of its biggest attacks on Ukraine's energy sector. The timing is the part Kyiv cannot get past: the pressure was lifted at the moment it was supposed to land.

A waiver is not a repeal: the law stays on the books, and the measures could be revived. That distinction matters to lawyers and almost nobody else. For the buyers of Russian energy who were bracing for 100 percent tariffs, the immediate pressure is off, and in energy markets the immediate pressure is usually the only kind there is.