President Donald Trump is holding back on sweeping new economic penalties Congress handed him to squeeze Russia.He is betting that keeping those sanctions in reserve will help bring Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table, a strategy drawing criticism from Republican allies amid questions about whether Moscow believes he will ever use them.Over roughly a week, the administration waived most of the new Russia sanctions and tariffs enacted last month while separately easing restrictions on Russian diesel exports, moves one foreign policy expert described as Trump's most significant effort yet to unwind economic pressure on Moscow."It's probably the biggest effort that the Trump administration has made to start unwinding the U.S.sanctions architecture that's been in place against Russia since 2022 or even earlier in some cases," Hal Brands, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, told Fox News Digital.TRUMP TRIES DIFFERENT APPROACH WITH RUSSIA TO BRING AMERICANS RELIEF AMID ONGOING WAR WITH UKRAINEU.S.
President Donald Trump (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) hold a meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on Aug.15, 2025 in Anchorage, Alaska.
(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)Trump argues that imposing the new penalties could drive Russia away from peace negotiations.But Brands said repeatedly holding back economic punishment risks convincing Putin that Washington is unwilling to follow through on its threats."The threat of imposition may lose some credibility if over a period of time you've demonstrated that you would prefer not to impose those penalties in the first place," Brands said.REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS BREAK WITH TRUMP ON DIESEL DEAL WITH RUSSIAThe decision has drawn criticism from Republicans who helped advance the Lindsey O.
Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, including Trump allies who worked with his White House to pass it.Sen.Katie Britt, R-Ala., who play...