--- title: "Trump Suspends 'Hellish Sanctions' Against Russia for 60 Days: Rubio Explains the Decision" description: "US Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained that Trump suspended the \"hellish sanctions\" against Russia for 60 days to assess the impact of restrictions and tariffs on the global and American economies." date: 2026-10-18T07:13:35.518Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/trump-suspends-hellish-sanctions-russia-rubio tags: [trump, russia-sanctions, marco-rubio, linsey-graham-law, energy-market] author: "Alexander Buran" publisher: "XAB.info" --- # Trump Suspends 'Hellish Sanctions' Against Russia for 60 Days: Rubio Explains the Decision ![US Secretary of State Marco Rubio makes a statement regarding sanctions against Russia](https://xab.info/media/2026/10/18/trump-priostanovil-adskie-sanktsii-protiv-rossii-rubio/trump-priostanovil-adskie-sanktsii-protiv-rossii-rubio-1.webp) ## Key Points - Trump signed an executive order suspending the application of "hellish sanctions" against Russia for 60 days to analyze the economic impact. - Rubio explained the decision by noting that the law affected not only Russia, but also tariffs on other countries, including India. - The directive formally introduces tariffs but halts their implementation, preserving the possibility of their future application. US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order suspending the application of sanctions against Russia under the so-called "Graham Act"—a package of massive tariffs, restrictions, and sanction measures promoted by the late Senator Lindsey Graham for the purchase of Russian energy resources. As US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters, the administration has been granted a 60-day period during which the potential impact of these restrictions on the American and global economies will be analyzed. The directive formally introduces tariffs but halts their implementation, leaving Trump with the option to activate them in the future. ### "We Need 60 Days": The Secretary of State's Explanation Marco Rubio emphasized that the bill on "hellish sanctions" against Russia and Iran contained restrictive measures not only against the Russian Federation. According to him, the document stipulated tariffs against a number of other countries—for example, India—so the administration requires additional time to make a balanced decision on its application. "The problem is that these sanctions applied not only to Russia. They provide for tariffs on a number of countries—for example, India and others. Therefore, I believe the president wants to use this 60-day period to analyze what the introduction of both sanctions and tariffs will mean for the global economy and even for the US economy," the Secretary of State stated. He added that when passing the bill, one of the reasons for including exemptions was the understanding that time would be needed to study the issue, and that the Trump administration requires 60 days to "take all of this into account and weigh the pros and cons." ### India, Diesel, and the Oil Precedent As an illustration, Rubio cited the example of India, which has voluntarily diversified its supplies but still receives a significant portion of its energy from Russia. Answering a journalist's question about whether the decision is a "gift" to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the Secretary of State stated that Russian diesel fuel "would have been sold anyway," and the only difference is how much of it the US would have received. He also recalled that a few months ago, Washington granted a 60-day exemption regarding Russian oil during tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, emphasizing that the current decision is not unprecedented. ### Interconnected Conflicts and the Energy Market The Secretary of State noted that conflicts in the world are interconnected and capable of generating uncertainty in the global energy market. "Therefore, all these issues need to be handled delicately and carefully, because they are all—they are all intertwined now. This is no longer just about the Strait of Hormuz. This is what is happening with Saudi Arabia, and the uncertainty that generates. This is also what is happening between Russia and Ukraine, and the restrictions that imposes," Rubio said, pointing out the need to consider the cumulative impact of multiple factors simultaneously. ### What the "Graham Act" Entails To recap, the "Graham Act" is a package of massive tariffs, restrictions, and sanctions that the late Senator Lindsey Graham promoted as an instrument to punish Russia for the war in Ukraine by putting pressure on purchases of Russian energy resources. Trump used the sanction-lifting provision embedded in the very law that Graham championed as a mechanism for such punishment. In fact, the directive formally introduces tariffs but halts their implementation, meaning the president can use them at another time if he deems it appropriate. ## Fact-Check & Sources - ["Нам нужно 60 дней": Рубио объяснил решение Трампа о санкциях против РФ](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/nam-potribno-60-dniv-rubio-poyasniv-rishennya-1792305830.html) - Primary source: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's statement on the 60-day suspension of sanctions under the "Graham Act", the example of India, the precedent with oil and the Strait of Hormuz, description of the directive. ## FAQ ### How many days did the US administration receive to analyze the sanctions? 60 days to analyze the potential impact of sanctions and tariffs on the American and global economies. ### Why, according to Rubio, is additional time needed? Because the law affected not only Russia, but also stipulated tariffs against a number of other countries, such as India. ### Does this mean the sanctions are cancelled forever? No. The directive formally introduces tariffs but halts their implementation, leaving Trump the opportunity to apply them in the future.