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President Donald Trump has issued a 30-day waiver for countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products stranded at sea to mitigate the supply deficit resulting from the Iran war.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admitted it was “unfortunate” that the action could benefit Russia, but explained it was done to stabilize global energy markets as prices surge.
Washington is set to release 172 million barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve, part of a commitment by the 32-nation International Energy Agency, IEA, to release 400 million barrels of oil.
The waiver would affect about 100 million barrels of Russian crude, said presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who criticized European officials for opposing the US decision.
The further easing of restrictions on Russia’s energy supplies “appears increasingly inevitable, despite resistance from some Brussels bureaucrats,” Dmitriev wrote on Telegram.
Roman Sheremeta, a professor of economics at Case Western Reserve University, Ohio, called the US respite “a backstabbing of Ukraine” after Kyiv agreed to help America and allies counter Iranian drones.
Sheremeta said instead of standing with Ukraine, Trump has handed “a lifeline” to the Russian economy and billions to its military. “It means more missiles; more drones,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
Russia has already made billions from fossil fuel exports since the strikes on Iran began, according to Alexander Kirk, Sanctions Campaigner at Urgewald.
“Every time sanctions are weakened when energy prices rise, the message to the Kremlin is clear: wait long enough and the West will blink,” Kirk said in a statement.
The activists warned that allowing more Russian oil onto the market will “refill the Kremlin’s war chest, undermining US foreign policy and weakening European security”.
Trump approves Russian oil purchase as Iran war disrupts markets
