Trump pauses Russia sanctions as watchdog identifies 134 gas-trade vessels
An executive order delayed sanctions due to take effect two days later. Urgewald says Russian gas shipments have continued since the law was signed.
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on October 16 pausing Russia sanctions scheduled to take effect two days later, according to an Associated Press report republished by Al Jazeera. The move delays measures aimed in part at tankers carrying Russian energy. Separately, the watchdog Urgewald identified 134 vessels involved in Russian gas trade since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kyiv Independent reported.
What Trump’s order paused
Trump told Congress the pause was in the national interest, AP reported. He had signed the sanctions legislation on September 18 after it passed both chambers of Congress by large margins. The order came two days before the law’s sanctions were scheduled to take effect.
Named for the late Republican senator Lindsey Graham, who drafted it with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, the law sought to restrict money reaching Moscow for its war in Ukraine. AP reported that it covered Russian officials, banks and a shadow fleet of energy tankers. It also directed tariffs of up to 100% on the five largest importers of Russian oil or gas, subject to an exception for some countries reducing their reliance on Russian gas.
The pause followed Trump’s announcement a week earlier of a US deal to buy Russian diesel to try to lower global fuel prices. Lawmakers from both parties criticized that deal, according to AP. Democratic Representative Don Beyer called on Congress to change the sanctions law after the pause.
What Urgewald found in Russian gas shipping
Urgewald’s list covers vessels involved in Russian gas trade from February 24, 2022, through October 15, 2026. The watchdog said the 134 ships carried more than 150 million metric tons of cargo during that period, with about 1.5 million metric tons more in transit as of October 15, according to the Kyiv Independent. Those figures are Urgewald’s analysis, rather than an independently verified count of every shipment.
The watchdog counted 42 tankers transporting Russian gas between the law’s signing and October 15. Its examples include Boris Davydov, which left Russia’s Yamal terminal on October 6, and Clean Horizon, whose cargo from Yamal was later delivered to Dunkerque in France. The list includes 17 Arc7-class carriers designed for Arctic LNG exports.
Urgewald also counted more than 2,700 voyages since February 2022. Ships owned by Dynagas and Seapeak each accounted for roughly 17% of those voyages, the Kyiv Independent reported. The figures show the scale of the trade that sanctions supporters want to constrain; they do not establish how many individual ships the paused US measures would have targeted.
Alexander Kirk, a sanctions campaigner at Urgewald, criticized Trump’s decision on October 17. ‘Trump has now hollowed it out before its main sanctions could bite,’ he said, according to the Kyiv Independent. The order has been reported as a pause; its precise scope and duration were not set out in AP’s account.
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Sources and context
- Exclusive: Watchdog lists ships carrying Russian gas, blasts Trump sanctions waiverKyiv Independent
- Trump puts on hold new Russia sanctions he signed into lawAssociated Press, republished by Al Jazeera
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.