British leader Keir Starmer defended Wednesday a contentious move to ease sanctions on imports of Russian jet fuel and diesel as the Middle East war causes prices to spiral.
The trade licence, which allows the UK to import Russian crude oil refined in third countries such as India, was heavily criticised by opposition parties.
The licence is of “indefinite duration” according to the Department of Business and Trade website, and will be periodically reviewed.
The Labour government also issued a temporary licence loosening sanctions on liquefied natural gas originating from certain Russian plants.
Its intention to ban imports derived from Russian crude was announced in October. But Starmer said the government was issuing “two targeted short-term licences to phase the new sanctions in and to protect UK consumers”.
“This is not a question of lifting existing sanctions in any way whatsoever, and we will continue to work with our allies on further sanction packages,” he said.
But Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused the prime minister of “choosing to buy dirty Russian oil. That money will be used to fund the killing of Ukrainian soldiers”.
Britain imposed a stringent sanctions regime on Russia following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, targeting oil exports as well as over 3,000 individuals and companies.
The decision follows a US sanctions waiver for Russian oil cargoes already at sea, which was extended Monday for the second time as its war against Iran squeezes global oil supplies and sends energy prices soaring.
The European Union criticised the US waiver extension at a meeting of G7 finance ministers on Tuesday that the UK was a part of.
EU economics commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said it was not a time to “ease pressure on Russia”.
But UK Treasury minister Dan Tomlinson said the sanctions easing was “protecting the UK national interest”.
“The government has announced yesterday this time-limited change to the rules around oil and refining given the extremes of the impacts of the conflict in Iran, and the impact of it washing up on our shores,” Tomlinson told Sky News.
Later, trade minister Chris Bryant apologised to MPs for the government’s “clumsy” handling of the issue and said he wanted the licences to be as “temporary as possible”.
In retaliation to US-Israeli strikes launched in February, Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, though traffic in the key waterway has slowly edged higher during a ceasefire.
On Wednesday, the international benchmark Brent North Sea crude remained close to $110 a barrel, far above pre-war levels.
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