The Biden administration on Friday imposed the most sweeping sanctions yet targeting Russian oil and gas revenues in a bid to give Kiev and President-elect Donald Trump’s administration leverage on a Ukraine peace deal. The measures are aimed at cutting Russia’s oil revenues in the war that began in February 2022, leaving tens of thousands of people dead and injured and cities reduced to rubble.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the timing was chosen because “oil markets are in fundamentally good shape” and the U.S. economy is better positioned to absorb market disruptions.
“Since the Russian war began, benchmark oil prices have fallen by nearly $35 per barrel. Average U.S. gasoline prices have fallen from about $4 per gallon to just over $3 per gallon,” Kirby said. told reporters at a White House briefing.
The measures target Russian oil producers, tankers, intermediaries, traders and ports and are described by a senior US official as “the most significant sanctions against Russia’s energy sector to date.” The U.S. Treasury has imposed sanctions on Russian companies Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz, which explore, produce and sell oil, and on 183 vessels that transported Russian oil, many of them non-Western. He belongs to the so-called shadow fleet of aging tankers operated by corporations. It also includes networks that trade oil.
When asked whether previously high gas prices prevented earlier action on Russia’s oil revenues, Kirby replied, “Of course.”
Many of these tankers have been used to transport crude to India and China, as price caps imposed by G7 countries in 2022 have shifted much of Russia’s oil trade from Europe to Asia. Some of the tankers carried both Russian and Iranian oil.
The sanctions were imposed just days before Trump took office, but Kirby denied they were intended as a bargaining chip in future peace talks. “At this point, there is no expectation that either side will be willing to negotiate,” he said.
Global oil prices rose more than 3%, with Brent crude approaching $80 a barrel. Oil prices rose ahead of the Treasury’s announcement as a document detailing the sanctions circulated among traders in Europe and Asia.
The sanctions are part of a broader effort, as the Biden administration has provided about $64 billion in military aid to Ukraine since the invasion. This includes $500 million this week for air defense missiles, air-to-ground weapons and support equipment for fighter jets.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the latest round of sweeping sanctions, saying, “These measures deal a serious blow to the financial foundations of Russia’s war machine by disrupting the entire supply chain.” Ta.
Friday’s action follows U.S. sanctions in November on banks including Gazprombank, Russia’s largest pipeline to global energy business, and U.S. sanctions earlier this year on dozens of tankers transporting Russian oil. This is what continued.
The Biden administration believes November’s sanctions pushed the Russian ruble to its lowest level since the invasion began and pushed Russia’s central bank to raise interest rates to record levels above 20%.
Another Biden administration official said: “Directly targeting the energy sector will further exacerbate the pressure on Russia’s economy, which is already pushing inflation near 10%, and further worsen the bleak economic outlook for 2025 and beyond.” I expect it to strengthen.”
Mr. Biden’s aides briefed Mr. Trump’s aides on the sanctions. But Biden administration officials said it will be up to President Trump, who takes office on January 20, to decide when and under what conditions the Biden-era sanctions will be lifted. Military aid and sanctions “will significantly increase the incoming administration’s leverage with both countries and Ukraine in brokering a just and lasting peace,” one of the officials said.
Republican Trump’s return to the White House has raised hopes for a diplomatic solution to stop Moscow’s aggression, but in Kiev, early peace could come at a high price for Ukraine. There are also growing concerns that this may not be the case.
For the time being, President Trump’s advisers have floated a plan to end the war that would effectively hand over much of the country to Russia.
Trump’s transition team did not respond to requests for comment on the new sanctions.
One Biden official said an administration that wants to lift new sanctions would need to notify Congress and give it the power to vote no, and many Republicans have urged Biden to issue Friday’s sanctions. He added that he is encouraging this.
