The United Kingdom government has announced it is easing sanctions on imports of Russian jet fuel and diesel refined in third countries, amid soaring fuel prices caused by the Iran war and the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The trade license, which came into effect on Wednesday, is of “indefinite duration,” according to the UK’s Department for Business and Trade, and will be periodically reviewed. It will allow the UK to import Russian crude oil refined in third countries such as India and Turkey.
The government also issued a temporary license loosening sanctions on liquefied natural gas originating from certain Russian plants.
The UK and other Western countries imposed strict sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, targeting oil exports as well as more than 3,000 individuals and companies.
This new decision follows a US sanctions waiver for Russian oil cargoes already at sea, which was extended Monday for the second time as the war against Iran squeezes global oil supplies.
The European Union criticized the US waiver extension on Tuesday at a meeting of G7 finance ministers that the UK also attended. EU economy commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said it was not a time to “ease pressure on Russia.”
UK Treasury minister Dan Tomlinson said the changes are “for a time-limited period and on a very specific issue.”
The UK has been one of Ukraine’s strongest allies since Russia’s invasion in 2022, and the government insists its sanctions against Russia remain among the toughest in the world.
Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, denounced the move. “After 18 months of ‘standing up to Putin’ the Labour govt quietly issued a license allowing imports of Russian oil refined in third countries,” she said on X.
Finance ministers from the United States, UK, and other G7 countries issued a joint statement on Tuesday reaffirming “our unwavering commitment to continue to impose severe costs on Russia in response to its continued aggression against Ukraine.”
Source: www.aljazeera.com