German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the US decision to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian oil, which is aimed at mitigating the effects of the war in Iran on world oil prices, is “wrong”, notes DPA. BTA reported.
“To lift the sanctions at this time, for whatever reason, we consider it a mistake“, Merz said at a joint press conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre on the Norwegian island of Andøya.
Merz stressed that Russia continues to show a lack of desire to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine against the backdrop of the Russian invasion that began more than 4 years ago.
“For this reason, we must increase the pressure on Moscow and we will continue to do so“, he added.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said in an article in “Ex“ that the measure, which will be in effect until April 11, aims to “expand the global reach of existing stocks“.
Merz acknowledged that the decision was surprised other G7 leaders after the group of seven leading industrial nations discussed the option of temporarily lifting sanctions on Russian oil and gas supplies with US President Donald Trump earlier this week.
“Six of the G7 members were very clear that this was not the right signal to send. This morning we learned that the US government had in fact made a different decision,” the German chancellor said.