Trump waives new Russia sanctions

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Cite

Morganbesser, L. (2026, October 18). Trump waives new Russia sanctions. Semafor. https://www.semafor.com/article/10/18/2026/trump-waives-new-russia-sanctions

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Semafor · collected 2026-10-18 · by Lauren Morganbesser

Quick Summary

President Trump waived new sanctions on Russia shortly before they were due to take effect, despite congressional efforts across party lines supporting them. This move has led to concerns about the commitment of the United States to Ukraine's stability and security. The decision was defended by the U.S. Energy Secretary as a strategic approach to promote peace, but Ukrainian President Zelenskyy expressed intent to engage in further peace negotiations with Trump’s representatives. European countries are now under pressure to bolster their support for Ukraine amid these changes in American policy toward Russia.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-18, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

On October 17, 2026, President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending new sanctions on Russia that were set to take effect two days later, citing national interest and the need for peace negotiations with Moscow. This move came despite bipartisan congressional support for the Lindsey Graham Act, which aimed to clamp down on financial resources fueling Russia's war against Ukraine.

Trump's decision followed a controversial announcement on October 9 where he invited Russia to sell 1.8 million tonnes of diesel into global markets, intended to lower energy prices ahead of November elections but criticized by Ukraine and its allies for potentially aiding Moscow in the conflict.

In response to mounting criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump defended his actions on October 18, claiming he is negotiating peace between Russia and Ukraine. He accused Zelensky of not wanting to end the war, a stance that further strained relations between Washington and Kyiv.

Meanwhile, European nations face increasing pressure to bolster their support for Ukraine amidst concerns about the economic impact of winter on Ukraine's economy. Analysts argue that while Trump’s easing sanctions may undermine Ukraine’s position in negotiations, it is unlikely to fundamentally alter the course of the war.

Written for “Trump Waives Russian Sanctions” on 2026-10-19, grounded in this article and the 54 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but every quote it verified points right, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 89529: score contradicts its own evidence · logged 2026-10-18

Story

📰 Trump Waives Russian Sanctions
Politics · 55 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Trump puts new Russia sanctions passed by Congress on hold amid deepening row with Ukraine same event · 100%
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 5% hedged 1 of 21 📰 publisher trust 68
“Both articles describe President Trump's action of waiving new sanctions on Russia at the same time and place, affecting the relationship with Ukraine similarly.”
Trump suspends sanctions that Congress put on Russia just one week after his cushy dealings with Putin same event · 100%
Daily Mail
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 6% hedged 2 of 34 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles describe President Trump suspending sanctions against Russia at the same time and context.”
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump orders last-minute stay on Russian sanctions and refuses to blame Putin for war same event · 100%
The Independent
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 6% hedged 3 of 51 📰 publisher trust 59
“Both articles report on US President Donald Trump ordering a last-minute stay on new Russia sanctions shortly before they were set to take effect, involving the same specific incident and timeframe.”
President Trump faces backlash over Russia sanctions relief same event · 100%
NBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 no claims extracted 📰 publisher trust 95
“Both articles describe President Trump's action of waiving new Russia sanctions on the same date.”
Zelensky criticises Trump’s waiver of sanctions on Russia as ‘wrong’ same event · 100%
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 12% hedged 4 of 34 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe US President Trump waiving new sanctions on Russia and Ukrainian President Zelensky's criticism of this decision, referring to the exact same incident.”
Trump bashes Zelensky, defends waiving sanctions on Russia same event · 100%
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans strongly right 🔴 8% hedged 1 of 12 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe President Trump waiving new sanctions on Russia and his defense of this decision, involving similar comments about peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.”
Trump waives Russia sanctions as rift with Zelenskyy widens same event · 95%
Al Jazeera · 0.89 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 2 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe US President Donald Trump waiving new sanctions on Russia and the reaction from Ukraine and other allies.”
Trump waives Russian sanctions as US-Ukraine relationship frays same event · 95%
Evening Standard · 0.88 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 15% hedged 2 of 13 📰 publisher trust 67
“Both articles describe President Trump waiving new sanctions on Russia at a time when US-Ukraine relations are deteriorating.”
Trump waives many Russia-related sanctions, tariffs before they were to take effect under new law same event · 95%
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 7 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe President Trump waiving Russia-related sanctions and tariffs before they were set to take effect under a new law.”
Donald Trump waives sanctions, tariffs on purchase of Russian oil and gas same event · 95%
The Hindu
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 4 📰 publisher trust 95
“Both articles describe President Trump waiving sanctions on Russia at the same time and context.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
3
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 3 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
60/100
Semafor's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
55
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-18 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Semafor · 1064 article(s) · 1 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 1 correction(s)
2026-10-16
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Who wrote this

Lauren Morganbesser
24 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 24 articles by Lauren Morganbesser →

Topics

Moscow Russia Ukraine Ukrainian Washington

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 3× Ukraine GPE · 3× Washington GPE · 2× Donald Trump PERSON · 1× Kyiv GPE · 1× Moscow GPE · 1× Putin PERSON · 1× Russia GPE · 1× Ukrainian NORP · 1× Volodymyr Zelenskyy PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Trump’s energy secretary defended the decision as a “carrot” to encourage peace, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was meeting Trump’s envoys to arrange a new round of peace talks. But as Washington eases up on Moscow and clamps down on Kyiv, Europe faces growing pressure to step up its own support: “Trump’s deal with Putin undermines Ukraine, but it will not fundamentally change the war,” wrote a Chatham House analyst.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-18
🔮 US President Donald Trump waived new sanctions on Russia days before they were set to take effect, reversing a bipartisan congressional push and raising fresh questions about Washington’s commitment to Ukraine.
2026-10-18 · Semafor
Trump waives new Russia sanctions · assertive framing

Claims (3 extracted, 0 hedged)

US President Donald Trump waived new sanctions on Russia days before they were set to take effect, reversing a bipartisan congressional push and raising fresh questions about Washington’s commitment to Ukraine. asserted
they → waive → Ukraine
Trump’s energy secretary defended the decision as a “carrot” to encourage peace, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was meeting Trump’s envoys to arrange a new round of peace talks. But as Washington eases up on Moscow and clamps down on Kyiv, Europe faces growing pressure to step up its own support: “Trump’s deal with Putin undermines Ukraine, but it will not fundamentally change the war,” wrote a Chatham House analyst. asserted
analyst → defend → war
“What will be decisive is ensuring Ukraine’s economy gets through a difficult winter.” asserted
economy → ensure → winter
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