The suspension of the Lindsey Graham sanctions act, due to take effect within days, is at the centre of a dispute between Washington and Kyiv over Trump lifting sanctions on Russia - a move Volodymyr Zelenskyy says will intensify the Kremlin's war.

The Graham Act paused two days before implementation

Congress learned on Friday that Trump intends to freeze the sweeping new sanctions package aimed at the Russian economy, telling lawmakers that holding it back serves the national interest. The legislation carries the name of the late senator Lindsey Graham, its chief champion, and had been scheduled to come into force within two days.

Had it taken effect, the law would have:

• •hit China, India and other large buyers of Russian crude with a 100% tariff
• •placed sanctions on Russia's energy sector, its financial institutions and the shadow fleet of tankers, along with Russian officials and banks
• •obliged Trump to apply tariffs of up to 100% on the five biggest importers of Russian oil or natural gas, sparing countries that take under 15% of Russia's natural gas exports and have made significant cuts

Zelenskyy's warning that lifting sanctions will intensify the war

In a social media message, Zelenskyy described Trump's latest actions as a "reward" that would embolden the Russian president. By his assessment, waiving the penalties would encourage Vladimir Putin to press the war harder, and he urged supporters in the US to work to bring the bill back to life.

On Saturday, Zelenskyy said the easing of pressure would not stop the Kremlin. "Unfortunately, the lifting of sanctions will continue, and I believe that the 'diesel deal' is the first step," he said. "it seems to me that this cannot stop Putin; on the contrary, he feels joy and happiness that he has such support."

Moscow welcomes the suspension

The Russian side greeted the announcement. Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian presidential envoy, wrote on social media: "The Trump administration's suspension of the Graham Act is an important and truly historic moment."

Speaking on Saturday, Zelenskyy predicted further rollbacks ahead from the Trump administration, and urged European capitals to open negotiations of their own with Moscow.

Strikes on the power grid as the waiver lands

The freeze landed as Russian forces carried out one of the heaviest assaults so far on Ukraine's power plants, seeking to leave its cities without electricity as winter approaches. Zelenskyy said the Saturday attack hit more than 15 critical power generation and transmission facilities, with "severe consequences".

He tied the two events together, writing: "in America, regrettably, a decision was made to completely ignore the Lindsey Graham law, which was supposed to impose truly effective pressure on Russia."

Each night brings loitering munitions, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, and Zelenskyy said shrinking reserves of anti-air weapons leave his forces struggling to intercept many of them, even though Ukrainian defenders shoot down a significant number. The strikes, he said, are taking a mounting toll: the "sheer scale and unrelenting pace of Russia's strikes, specifically against our energy sector, are unfortunately having severe consequences."

Zelenskyy said on Saturday he hopes the US president will do everything so Putin stops the killings, the strikes on energy infrastructure and the war - but not by restricting Ukraine's responses or lifting sanctions.