Rubio Calls Trump’s Russia Sanctions Waiver a 60-Day Pause as Zelensky and Republicans Object
Rubio says Trump’s Russia sanctions waiver is a 60-day review. Zelensky, Cruz and Tillis object. What was said, and what the order actually says.
In this article
Context
Marco Rubio said on Saturday that President Donald Trump wants up to 60 days to study the sanctions he waived on Russia the day before. Reuters reported that the secretary of state spoke to reporters before boarding a plane to Uzbekistan. The order Trump signed on Friday, 16 October, sets no such limit.
Trump himself would not say the matter was closed. At Mar-a-Lago that evening he told reporters, “A lot of you don’t know what my decision is yet, but we’ll figure it out, and you’ll figure it out.” He then called it “a very good decision, and it’s going to be a decision that’s good for the country.” Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, wrote on X that the decision “seems wrong to me.” Senators of Trump’s own party said the same.
Key takeaways
The waiver covers the new tariffs and sanctions in the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which were due to apply on 18 October. Rubio described it on Saturday as a review period of up to 60 days, and the order contains no end date. Zelensky and Republican senators Thom Tillis and Ted Cruz criticised it within hours. Sanctions under earlier executive orders remain in force.
Analysis
What is the Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act?
Congress passed the law in September, and Trump signed it on 18 September. NBC News reported that it is named for the late Senator Lindsey Graham. It targets the largest buyers of Russian oil and gas and lets the president impose tariffs on their goods. TIME reported that those tariffs could reach 100 percent. NBC reported that the Senate passed the bill 86 to 11.
The law lets the president waive its provisions if he certifies that doing so serves the national interest. The order he signed on 16 October says: “I hereby waive the application of any duties provided for in sections 112 and 113 of the Graham Act or this order.” It also waives the sanctions provision in section 102(d), and the waivers “shall remain in effect until such time as the President or the Secretary of State” decides further action is appropriate. The order adds that “nothing in this order affects any sanctions or other measures provided for under any Executive Order.” That keeps the sanctions in place since the 2022 invasion untouched.
What was said on Saturday
Rubio, in remarks reported by Reuters, said the president “wants to take the 60-day period of time to sort of analyze” the effect of the sanctions and tariffs. France 24 reported that he tied this to energy prices: “These conflicts around the world are starting to crash into each other.” Asked about the separate diesel deal with Vladimir Putin, he said, “That diesel is going to be sold one way or the other.”
As our earlier report set out, Trump announced a week ago that hundreds of thousands of tons of Russian diesel would reach world markets. NBC reported that diesel prices have risen almost 70 percent since the war with Iran began in February. The waiver came less than three weeks before the midterm elections.
Zelensky posted on X on Saturday: “The decision to undo all of this, to block all of it, seems wrong to me.” He added, “It definitely helps only the Russians.” In messages to journalists he said, “It seems to me that this won’t stop Putin,” according to NBC. He also called the waiver a “financial reward for Putin.”
Cruz told Fox News, “Look, I wish the president hadn’t done it. I think it was a mistake.” Asked whether he would tell Trump not to waive the sanctions, he answered, “I would, yes.” Tillis, who leaves the Senate in January, wrote on X: “What part of enforcing a law passed 86-11 by the Senate does the President and his advisors not understand?” He called the decision “beyond irresponsible.” Fox Business collected the remarks, including a post by the former UN ambassador Nikki Haley that called it “a terrible misjudgment of Putin.”
Senator Darline Graham, the appointed Republican from South Carolina, told reporters, “Personally, I would choose to keep the pressure on Russia.” She added, “I don’t trust Putin and I don’t trust Russia.” Representative Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, wrote on X that “the president is prolonging the war, not ending it.” Senator John Cornyn of Texas wrote, per NBC, “Lindsey would be appalled.” On the Democratic side, Senator Richard Blumenthal said the waivers “have nothing to do with our national security, and everything to do with sucking up to Vladimir Putin.”
Analysis
How the 60 days sit beside the order
Friday’s order says the waivers stay in effect until the president or the secretary of state decides otherwise. It names no period. Saturday’s explanation from Rubio names 60 days. Trump’s own remark on Saturday evening was that his decision was not yet known, and in the same breath that it was a good one.
The law’s first measures were due on 18 October. Under the order they do not apply, and the 60 days Rubio described run into the middle of December. The midterm elections fall inside that window.
TIME quoted Tatiana Mitrova of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, who said the waiver “may prevent additional market disruptions, but it does not itself create new supply.” It also quoted Jeff Colgan of Brown University, who said that easing sanctions “probably won’t move global prices very much,” and Konstantin Sonin of the University of Chicago, who said the move was “another bit of signaling that the United States is not as supportive of Ukraine as they were historically.” TIME reported no official statement from the Kremlin.
What to watch
The first marker is whether the White House issues a formal end date or only a stated review period. The second is whether any Republican senator moves to force a vote, since Tillis cited the 86 to 11 margin by which the Senate passed the law. The third is whether Treasury extends the diesel licence, which a previous report on this site placed at April 2027.
Zelensky has said he fears further relief. Whether the pre-existing sanctions stay untouched will show in the next executive order.
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