White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said on April 6 that Russia was excluded from the U.S. tariff list due to ongoing peace negotiations with Ukraine. In aninterview with ABC News,

White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, in an interview with ABC News, said that Russia was not included in the list of tariffs imposed by the US due to ongoing negotiations regarding the Russia-Ukraine war.

The absence of Russia on the president’s new list of countries that he’ll hit with steep tariffs did not go unnoticed on social media. Critics were quick to accuse Trump of kowtowing to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom Trump has for years expressed his admiration of.