US Energy Secretary Chris Wright called the US Treasury Department's decision to ease sanctions on Russian oil for another month “pragmatic”. The US had previously eased sanctions on Russian oil on March 13. This regime was supposed to end 30 days after its introduction.
Chris Wright's statement is reported by the Associated Press.
“These are short-term, pragmatic solutions aimed at getting oil that is already flowing to flow in a different direction, and they are temporary,” said Chris Wright.
Representatives of the US Democratic Party in Congress called the Treasury Department's decision to continue easing sanctions against Russia “shameful.”
“Putin has become one of the biggest beneficiaries of President Trump's war on Iran, as Russia's oil revenues nearly doubled in March. Enough is enough,” the Democrats said in a statement.
Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky, amid the easing of US sanctions against Russian oil, stated that the multi-billion dollar profits from its sale are “directly converted” into new strikes by the Russian army on Ukraine.
He emphasized the importance of reducing Russian oil exports, recalling that Ukrainian “long-range sanctions continue to work precisely for this,” referring to the Ukrainian Armed Forces' strikes on ports in the Russian Federation.
On April 18, the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a new license that allows for operations to supply and sell Russian oil and petroleum products already loaded onto vessels as of April 17, 2026.