# US president Donald Trump has defended his decision to block sanctions on Russia two days before they were due to take effect. He issued an executive order on Friday, pausing the sanctions, including on Russia’s economy, for 60 days. Trump also waived proposed tariffs on countries importing oil from Moscow. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he is in the process of negotiating peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and he didn’t want to do anything that would drive, foolishly, Moscow away from the bargaining table.
Trump says his decision to suspend Russian sanctions is to keep Moscow at the negotiating table