Trump gives himself up to 60 days to decide on Russia sanctions after Friday waiver

A day after waiving sanctions and tariffs on Russian exports, U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday he has not announced a final decision on the matter, Reuters reported — while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration wants up to 60 days to evaluate the situation.

"A lot of you don't know what my decision is yet, but we'll figure it out, and you'll figure it out," Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, according to Reuters.

Friday's executive order waived key sanctions and tariffs under the law known as the Graham Act, which Trump signed last month under pressure from lawmakers seeking to punish Moscow over its war in Ukraine. The measures — including tariffs on Russian goods and penalties on countries buying Russian oil and gas — were due to take effect next week. Friday's order did not specify how long the waiver would last.

"I think the president wants to take the 60-day period of time to sort of analyze what imposing both sanctions and tariffs will mean to the global economy and even to the US economy," Rubio told reporters before boarding a plane to Uzbekistan, Reuters reported.

The timing is political. The waiver comes weeks before November's midterm elections, with Trump under pressure over high energy prices as war with Iran disrupts global oil supplies, Reuters noted. Complicating the call, the Graham Act would impose tariffs on goods from countries importing Russian energy — Rubio pointed to India, an important U.S. partner that remains heavily dependent on Russian oil.

The delay deepens the rift with Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had already called Friday's waiver a "sanctions blackout." Canada, which aligns its Russia sanctions with U.S. and EU measures, now faces two months of uncertainty over the allied pressure campaign on Moscow's energy revenues.