White House credits Ukraine's third ceasefire of the month to the Russia sanctions it waived the week before

…(cont) Was that September agreement honored? It was honored in the relevant sense — the sense in which it existed, and we said it existed, and the strikes that kept landing afterward were outside the scope of the — all right. The strikes were the scope. The strikes were the thing it covered. What I am telling you is that the framework was already in place, which is how we were able to replace it so quickly.

On October 11 the President posted: "Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine." Zelensky learned of it from that post and called it "news to me." The Guardian reported the announcement went up as Russian drones hit Kyiv. That same day the President said Ukraine needed a new president and blamed Zelensky for diesel prices; the criticism came after Russian strikes that killed at least 20 people, three of them children.

On October 16 the President called Ukraine's refinery strikes a disgrace. On Friday evening he signed an executive order waiving the sanctions and tariffs in the Graham Act, calling it "in the national interests of the United States" and, afterward, "a very good decision." Senator Thom Tillis called it "Beyond irresponsible." Darline Graham, appointed to her late brother's seat, gently disagreed. Senator Chuck Schumer said, "Trump just gave Putin the best birthday gift he'll get this year." Zelensky said the Act "could have helped enormously," and reported over 320 drones, missiles and munitions aimed at his energy sector.

Here is the mechanism, and I want to be precise about it. The sanctions produced the talks. They produced them because they were signed and then held — an unfired tool is still a tool, Moscow could see the tool, and Moscow came to the table knowing that at any moment we might — knowing we had already put it down, indefinitely, in writing, and told Congress so. Let me restate that. The leverage is the restraint.

On the American's release, the President said enforcing those sanctions would have stopped it, and praised the Russian president as a humanitarian. I know how that plays in Brussels, where Zelensky on Friday called the decision a betrayal and asked allies for another €70 billion for 2027. CBS reported the President is tapping Russian energy to ease prices. The Times reported the waiver came amid fears that high energy prices would cost Republicans in next month's elections, and that the administration is floating more Russian gas sales to Europe. That is responsiveness, priced by the gallon.

Talks resumed Thursday. The Czech president said the diesel deal was "so close." Hours later, missiles landed on Kyiv. Earlier this month a Russian missile hit a housing complex in Pryluky, a Ukrainian city of no strategic value: thirty apartments destroyed, twenty-two people killed, five of them children. A city there is eating weeds to survive.

So: one signed law, in reserve. Three ceasefires inside thirteen days, each one announced on time. We have more.