A breach widened in the oil and gas sanctions cordon around Russia on Tuesday, as Britain exempted imports of diesel and jet fuel made from Russia crude, but refined in third-party countries. It comes after the US extended a waiver that critics say allows the Kremlin to earn more money and fund the war in Ukraine.
Russian oil is shipped to India, Turkey and other countries where it is refined and re-exported as their own product – complicating sanctions enforcement. The new rules take effect on Wednesday and will be of indefinite duration, though they will be reviewed periodically and can be amended or revoked, the British government said in a notice. Higher fuel costs have fed into broader cost-of-living pressures in Britain.
An EU official on Tuesday criticised the latest US waiver of sanctions on Russian oil, announced via the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent. “From the EU point of view, we do not think that this is a time to ease pressure on Russia,” said the EU economics commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis. “In fact, Russia is the one which is gaining from the war in Iran and the increase in fossil fuel prices … Secretary Bessent was reassuring us that this is a temporary measure, but we know that it’s already a second extension of the measure which initially was meant to last only 30 days.”
