WASHINGTON, April 17 (V7N) — The Trump administration on Friday issued a one-month sanctions waiver permitting the sale of Russian oil and petroleum products already at sea, in a bid to soften surging global energy prices.  

The Treasury Department license extends an earlier waiver that expired April 11, allowing purchases of Russian oil loaded onto vessels as of Friday through May 16. The move comes just two days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington would not renew the waiver.  

Both Russian and Iranian oil sanctions had been temporarily eased to cushion supply shocks triggered by the US-Israeli war against Iran. Tehran retaliated by closing the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global energy flows and driving crude prices to multi-year highs.  

US gasoline prices have spiked, adding pressure on households ahead of midterm elections. But the waiver risks undermining efforts to deprive Moscow of oil revenues needed for its war in Ukraine.  

French Finance Minister Roland Lescure, speaking after a G7 finance meeting in Washington, warned: “Russia mustn’t be getting benefits from what’s happening in Iran. Ukraine should not be collateral damage.”  

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, launched in 2022, remains the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.  

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