Zelenskyy calls Trump's Russia sanctions waiver "a pity"

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it is "a pity" that President Trump bypassed a sanctions law named for Lindsey Graham. NBC News reports he made the remark in an exclusive interview with Meet the Press.

Trump signed an executive order on Friday waiving sanctions on Russian energy, The Hill reports. The sanctions come from the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act. ABC News reports new sanctions and tariffs under the law were set to take effect in two days.

Sen. Darline Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said Saturday she would prefer to keep sanctions pressure on Russia, The Hill reports. She told The Hill, "I look forward to talking to him." The New York Times says she gently disagreed with the decision.

The Times reports Darline Graham was appointed to the Senate seat of her brother, Lindsey Graham, who died in July. It says he championed the sanctions law. An earlier version of this story said she did. The Hill's wording on who championed the bill is ambiguous.