𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The United States has temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian oil, a boost to the Kremlin as Washington tries to contain energy prices sent soaring by the American-Israeli assault on Iran.

President Vladimir Putin’s team welcomed the move to ease penalties that were imposed over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and pushed Friday for the U.S. to go further.

The decision caused dismay in Europe, where officials feared it would give a timely boost to the Moscow war machine on their doorstep as attention shifts from Ukraine to the Middle East.

The announcement failed to immediately calm oil prices, which have spiraled since Tehran effectively closed the vital Strait of Hormuz oil chokepoint and began attacking energy facilities across neighboring Gulf countries.

The international benchmark of Brent crude rose again overnight, sitting just above $100 a barrel as of 6 a.m. ET. Markets worldwide slipped, with U.S. stock futures down following slumps across Asia and Europe.

Announcing the move Thursday evening, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that until April 11 countries would be able to buy Russian oil that was already at sea.

He called it a “narrowly tailored, short-term measure” and claimed it would “not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government.” (However, he later told NBC News’ British partner Sky News that it was “an inevitability” and “unfortunate” when asked if Moscow would gain from the decision.)

Today, there are around 124 million barrels of Russian oil being carried on ships around the world. The Strait of Hormuz blockade is preventing around 10 million barrels entering the international market every day.

President Donald Trump, Bessent added in his statement, was “taking decisive steps to promote stability in global energy markets and working to keep prices low.”

He also echoed a sentiment voiced by Trump on Truth Social earlier Thursday. The short-term disruption “will result in a massive benefit to our nation and economy in the long-term,” Bessent said.

The Kremlin was eyeing an immediate boost. Despite attempts by Europe to wean themselves off Russian energy, oil and gas remain key to the Kremlin’s war chest, with China and India remaining crucial buyers.

“The United States is effectively acknowledging the obvious: Without Russian oil, the global energy market cannot remain stable,” Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev said in a statement.

He called for “further easing of restrictions on Russian energy resources,” a direction of travel he said was “increasingly inevitable, despite resistance from parts of the Brussels bureaucracy” — referring to the European Union.

On X early Friday, Dmitriev posted a waving Russian flag alongside the caption: “Buy Russian oil and gas to maintain a balanced energy supply.” Dmitriev had been in the U.S. meeting with Trump’s team earlier in the week.

Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, meanwhile, told reporters that Russia recognized Washington’s “attempt to stabilize energy markets,” and “in this respect, our interests coincide.”

Sergei Markov, a former Putin adviser turned commentator, said “the minor easing won’t achieve much” but as a reversal of a wider trend — from tightening sanctions to easing them — “it’s significant.” The Ukraine government “is in mourning” at the news, he wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Kyiv did not immediately offer public comment on the move.

This Russian positivity was not shared across Europe, however.

The British government was among those saying Friday that it will keep its own sanctions against Russian oil, while fearing the consequences of the Trump administration’s decision.

While on a visit to Saudi Arabia on Friday, the United Kingdom’s top diplomat, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, accused Tehran and Moscow of supporting each other and “attempting to hijack the global economy.”

The leaders of Germany and Norway, who appeared at a joint news conference, voiced their opposition.

The fallout Friday illustrated the complexities involved when the U.S. weighs two wars, each involving major energy producers.

The Strait of Hormuz is a 24-mile waterway separating Iran and the Gulf nations, and one fifth of the world’s oil passes through it each year. The vast majority of ships are refusing to go through it right now, both because it is too dangerous (Iran has attacked several ships over the past few days) and also because insurance costs have ballooned.

Lifting the Russian sanctions is not the only dramatic countermeasure that countries have attempted to prevent the risk of a global economic shock.

The International Energy Agency, a group of major producers, agreed this week to release a historic 400 million barrels of oil. This also failed to lower the prices.