Russia

Moscow, October 17, 2026. The Russian press is hailing the decree signed by Donald Trump on Friday as a turning point. Kirill Dmitriev, the presidential envoy for investment and economic cooperation, sees it on Telegram as "an important and truly historic moment": "Instead of sanctions and confrontation, we have dialogue, mutually beneficial cooperation, and shared responsibility for global stability." TASS is reporting his comments and emphasizing that the law could have, in his opinion, interrupted all Russian-American economic cooperation and severely damaged the American economy and global markets.

TASS is detailing the legal mechanism: signed on September 18, the law provided for sanctions against the Russian political and military leadership, state-owned enterprises, and banks, as well as customs duties of 500% on Russian products and 100% on the main buyers of Russian energy. The decree invokes the "national interest" of the United States and, the agency notes, sets no time limit: the exemptions remain in effect until the president or secretary of state deems "that further action is appropriate." The other existing American restrictions remain unchanged.

Sputnik is giving a platform to Mohammed Saqib, secretary general of the India-China Economic and Cultural Council, who believes that the exemption undermines the credibility of "secondary sanctions by customs duties" targeting China, India, and Turkey. He sees it as a priority given to American domestic energy concerns and the protection of the agreement on Russian diesel. Dmitriev is also attributing the origin of the conflict in Ukraine to the corruption of the Biden administration.

RT is presenting the measure as the suspension of "bone-crushing" sanctions that Trump had enacted a month earlier, after lifting sanctions on Russian diesel to contain energy prices before the midterm elections. The media is reporting, according to the American press, that Trump would have decided on this easing after Volodymyr Zelensky's refusal to stop strikes against Russian energy facilities, and mentions the indignation in Kiev, the criticism of a bipartisan group of senators, and the bill by Representative Gregory Meeks aimed at blocking the diesel agreement.

The Moscow Times, alone in nuancing, notes that Trump is moving closer to Moscow while publicly criticizing Zelensky, and that the new measures risk driving up oil prices just weeks before the elections.