Trump's decision caused a storm. "The administration capitulates to the Russian dictator"

"Irresponsible is an understatement. What do the president and his advisers not understand about enforcing a law passed by the Senate on a vote of 86-11?" - wrote Thom Tillis, a Republican senator, on the X website. “It is unacceptable that this administration is capitulating to a Russian dictator who illegally invaded Ukraine and murders innocent civilians every day.”

John Cornyn, in turn, said that his colleague and author of the bill, Lindsey Graham, who died this year, would be "appalled" by the president's action. He also supported the call for a congressional investigation into the "help" provided by Trump to the Russian leader.

Republican congressman Don Bacon accused the president of "prolonging the war, not ending it."

Democrats accuse Trump of betraying Ukraine. Senator Dick Durbin reminded that the bill named after Graham was adopted with very broad support from both parties.

"And yet President Trump has once again decided to capitulate to the Kremlin. Lindsey Graham, John McCain and Ronald Reagan are probably turning in their graves," he wrote.

Democratic Congressman Don Beyer, who voted against the bill, claiming that Trump would refrain from imposing new sanctions but could use his authority to arbitrarily impose tariffs, said he was right.

"This latest surrender by Trump to Putin once again betrays our Ukrainian partners and contradicts Congress's clear intent with legislation to punish Russia for its illegal war of aggression," he added. He said that although the president has refrained from imposing new tariffs for now, he may use them at any time, not necessarily to increase pressure against Russia.

“Congress must fix this flawed law to stop Trump from capitulating to Putin and ensure he truly supports Ukraine,” he said.

Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Richard Blumenthal also condemned the president's actions in a similar way. The latter, co-author of the bill, considered Trump a "coward" who sided with Russia.

"These dismissals have nothing to do with our national security and everything to do with sucking up to Vladimir Putin," he added.

President Trump issued an executive order on Friday night in which he suspended the application of all Russian sanctions and tariffs that Congress had provided for in the act. He thus took advantage of provisions giving him the right to waive measures after invoking the national interest and presenting reasons to Congress.

As a result, no new restrictions or tariffs have been imposed so far (the existing ones remain in force), although Trump ordered in his regulation to monitor purchases of Russian hydrocarbons with a view to the imposition of future tariffs. The act allows the president to impose tariffs of up to 100%. for goods from countries that are among the top five largest importers of Russian crude oil and Russian gas, as well as countries that enable circumvention of sanctions on Russian hydrocarbons.