INTERNATIONAL DESK:
The United States and the United Kingdom on Friday announced sanctions against Russia’s energy sector, including oil giant Gazprom Neft, just days before outgoing US president Joe Biden’s leaving office.
The US Treasury Department said that it was designating more than 180 ships as well as Russian oil majors Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, fulfilling ‘the G7 commitment to reduce Russian revenues from energy.’
At the same time, the UK government announced sanctions against the two companies, saying their profits were ‘lining (Russian president Vladimir) Putin’s war chest and facilitating the war’ in Ukraine.
‘Taking on Russian oil companies will drain Russia’s war chest –– and every ruble we take from Putin’s hands helps save Ukrainian lives,’ UK foreign secretary David Lammy said in a statement.
‘Putin is in tough shape right now, and I think it’s really important that he not have any breathing room to continue to do the god-awful things he continues to do,’ Biden told reporters Friday at the White House.
Gazprom Neft slammed the sanctions as ‘baseless’ and ‘illegitimate,’ Russian state news agencies reported.
‘Gazprom Neft considers the decision to include its assets on the sanctions list as baseless, illegitimate and contrary to the principles of free competition,’ Russian state news agencies quoted a company representative as saying.
Oil prices rose on the news, with a barrel of Brent North Sea crude oil for delivery in March up 3.6 per cent at $79.68 at around 4:45pm in Washington (2145 GMT).
Asked about gasoline prices, Biden conceded costs could rise ‘as much as three, four cents a gallon,’ but stressed that sanctions would have a ‘more profound impact’ on Russia.
Even before the sanctions were officially announced, rumors of fresh designations sparked condemnation from Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, who told reporters that the Biden administration was trying to leave incoming US president Donald Trump ‘as heavy a legacy as possible.’
