The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaia Kallas, today described as a "dangerous precedent" the US decision to temporarily ease sanctions against Russian oil exports, BTA reported.
Russia should have fewer, not more, means to wage war, Kallas added to journalists before the start of today's meeting of European foreign ministers in Brussels. She called on the events in the Middle East not to divert attention from the war in Ukraine. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is also in Russia's interest, she said.
The main question is how to keep the strait open, through which 95 percent of energy supplies to Asia pass, Kallas pointed out. She said she had discussed with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres whether an approach similar to the agreement on Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea could be applied to fertilizers. It is in our interest to keep the strait open, even though we are not as dependent as Asian countries, Kallas concluded.
A few days ago, the United States issued a new general license last night, allowing the sale of Russian crude oil and petroleum products loaded on ships until April 11, the US Treasury Department reported on its website.
The license, which covers oil and petroleum products loaded on ships as of March 12, comes a day after the US Department of Energy announced that the United States would release 172 million barrels of oil from the country's strategic petroleum reserve in an attempt to limit the surge in oil prices due to the war with Iran, Reuters reports. The agency notes that this is part of a broader commitment by the International Energy Agency (IEA), consisting of 32 countries, to free up 400 million barrels of oil.