German Economy Minister Katerina Reiche expressed concern that the temporary US permit for the sale of Russian oil would help the Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin finance his war against Ukraine, UNN reports with reference to Bloomberg.
Details
"The US has announced its intention to ease sanctions, limiting them to a few specific volumes," Reiche, who is also responsible for the energy portfolio, told reporters on Friday in Berlin.
"It seems to me that the domestic political pressure in the US is very high - I am afraid that we may inadvertently further replenish Putin's war reserves," she added.
She said that, on the one hand, she was concerned about replenishing Putin's war chest, but, on the other hand, the situation in South Korea and Japan was very tense.
"Fortunately, we have not yet suffered from this deficit," Reiche added.
She added that the decision of the International Energy Agency (IEA) to gradually release oil reserves did not have the desired effect, against the backdrop of ongoing attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
IEA approved the largest oil reserve release in history11.03.26, 16:35
"The most important factor of uncertainty is whether the cargo can physically pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and this is the biggest factor of uncertainty, and at this moment it has not been resolved," Reiche added.
The Trump administration issued a second permit for buyers to receive Russian oil shipments already at sea, expanding a temporary exception granted last week to India in an attempt to ease price pressure caused by the war with Iran.
US temporarily unblocked Russian oil sales to India to stabilize the global market06.03.26, 05:37
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the move was intended to be a "narrow, short-term measure" that "applies only to oil already in transit and will not bring significant financial benefit to the Russian government."
US allowed to buy Russian oil at sea for 30 days13.03.26, 06:13