The Trump administration on Friday renewed a waiver allowing purchases of Russian oil and petroleum products at sea for about a month.
The one-month waiver on Russian oil and petroleum products came two days after Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said she had no plans to extend sanctions relief.
The license issued late Friday allows countries to buy Russian oil loaded on ships from Friday until May 16.
This relaxation renews an earlier relaxation which expired on April 11. However, it does not include transactions involving Iran, Cuba and North Korea.
Trump administration is in a difficult situation regarding relaxation of sanctions
On Wednesday, Besant had said the US would not renew the waivers for Russian oil and Iranian oil, which are set to expire on Sunday.
The move comes as a measure to control global energy prices that recently skyrocketed during the US-Israeli war with Iran, however, oil prices have fallen since the start of the temporary ceasefire.
Besant said last month that the Iranian oil purchase waiver issued on March 20 allowed about 140 million barrels of oil to reach global markets and helped ease pressure on energy supplies during the war.
The decision to waive sanctions on Russian and Iranian oil was criticized by US lawmakers, who criticized the move, saying the waivers helped Iran’s economy when it was at war with the US and Russia at war with Ukraine.
The move undermines efforts to deprive Russia of oil revenues needed to finance its war on Ukraine, complicating Washington’s relations with its allies.
Edited by: Shawn Sinico