Trump paused Russia sanctions to 'analyse' impact on global economy: Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that President Donald Trump’s waiver of sweeping sanctions and tariffs on Russia would be a 60-day pause to “analyse” their impact on the global economy. “The president wants to take the 60-day period of time to sort of analyse what imposing both sanctions and tariffs will mean to the global economy and even to the US economy,” Rubio said, noting that the economic restrictions involved a number of countries, not just Russia. He said various conflicts were impacting global energy prices, including the US war on Iran and attacks on Saudi Arabia by Yemen’s Houthis. “These conflicts around the world are starting to crash into each other, and they’re having an impact not just on global oil and diesel prices” but on economies as well, Rubio said.

Trump said late on Saturday his decision would benefit the US, though it was unclear if he had actually made up his mind on the matter. “We’ll figure it out, and you’ll figure it out,” he said. “It’s a very good decision, and it’s going to be a decision that’s good for the country, and I think good for the world. ” US lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have sharply criticised Trump after he signed an executive order Friday that waived sweeping sanctions and tariffs targeting Russia — measures adopted by Congress last month. The law passed in September, and signed by Trump, included sanctions targeting Russian officials, oligarchs and financial institutions, and provided Trump with the authority to impose sanctions on major buyers of Russian oil and gas. The idea was to cut off sources of funding to supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as his war on Ukraine. But late Friday, two days before the law was due to take effect, Trump exempted Russia from those…