The U.S. Treasury Secretary announced today that the United States will not extend the suspension of sanctions on Russian oil stored at sea, a measure originally implemented to mitigate the impact of skyrocketing fuel prices.
“We will not renew the license for Russian oil,” declared Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a press conference.
His department had already announced an identical decision on Tuesday regarding Iranian oil. The U.S. government imposes sanctions on the petroleum resources of both Russia and Iran to curtail the revenues of these rival nations.
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The objective is to punish Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine and Iran for continuing its nuclear program and financing armed groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon or Hamas in the Gaza Strip, both of which are considered terrorist organizations by Washington, the European Union, and several other countries.
However, to moderate the price surge resulting from the war in the Middle East, Washington had implemented a temporary exemption in March allowing the sale of oil from these countries.
