Trump Eased Sanctions on Russian Energy. Oil Prices Are Climbing Down.

Oil prices are climbing down on Monday after President Donald Trump waived sanctions on Russian energy shortly before they were set to go into effect.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell almost 2% and stood at $107.69 per barrel at 9:27 a.m. ET, while West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, dropped 1.71% and clocked in at $97.32 at the same time.

Trump blocked the application of several of the Russia-related sanctions mandated by the bill just two days before they were meant to come into effect.

He said during the weekend that the decision is a result of him being "in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine" and not wanting "to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table."

Trump went on to criticize Zelensyy, saying he is "using Diesel Refineries in Russia as a target, knowing that these attacks are seriously hurting the world diesel markets, including those in the United States."

"Farmers, ranchers, and businesses of all kinds are suffering greatly from this, but Russia is, nevertheless, sending, at a low price, millions of barrels of diesel to the World. Zelenskyy doesn't care, and frankly, with all of the money that Europe is famously giving him, and that Crooked Joe Biden gave him in the past, he doesn't want to end this war, and probably never did. He could have made a better deal two years ago than he can now," Trump added.

The waiver in question applies to Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, the official name of the legislation that would have allowed Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100% on imports from the five nations purchasing the most Russian oil and gas.

The move is the latest sign of the increasingly fraught relations between Washington and Kyiv. Trump recently called for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to be replaced over Kyiv's continued attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.

At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin has floated a summit with U.S. and Chinese counterparts Trump and Xi Jinping to discuss the future of the war.

The meeting, detailed by The Wall Street Journal, took place earlier this month during a call with Trump and would not include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It comes as his relationship with Trump deteriorates rapidly and could take place at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November in the Chinese city of Shenzhen.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio reacted to the possibility, saying on Monday that "there's been talks of a meeting." "I don't know whether it's been finalized, but the president has been clear," he added. "The president is open to anything that he can do to help bring a war to an end, if it's possible, and we'll continue to look for opportunities to do that."