Trump says US may soon reinstate sanctions against Russia

“We will soon be able to do this, because the oil is already flowing. We lifted the sanctions because, obviously, we did not want to hinder [the supply of] oil. We are in a position to do this soon,” he said. 

Easing of sanctions

The US Treasury first eased sanctions on Russian oil in early March amid fears of supply disruptions from the Middle East.

The temporary exemption applied to oil that was stranded at sea from 12 March to 11 April. Later, the Trump administration extended the easing of sanctions until 16 May, although US officials had assured that the sanctions would not be extended further.

On 16 May, the sanctions were reinstated, but Bloomberg reported that some countries, including India and Indonesia, asked the Trump administration to ease them once again. They attributed this to the fact that the US war against Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz had deprived global markets of “millions of barrels of crude oil every day”.

A number of European leaders criticised the easing of sanctions against Russia. The Office of the President of Ukraine estimated that Moscow could earn up to approximately 10 billion dollars as a result of the US decision.