The European Union criticised Tuesday the latest US waiver of sanctions on Russian oil, announced while G7 finance ministers were meeting to reach a common response to multiple economic challenges.
Washington’s move aims to help lower energy prices that have skyrocketed since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran in February, effectively shutting the Strait of Hormuz to Gulf oil tanker traffic.
But EU economics commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis denounced the extensions, which have given Moscow a financial boost as it pursues its war against Ukraine.
“From the EU point of view, we do not think that this is a time to ease pressure on Russia,” Dombrovskis told journalists while arriving for a second day of G7 talks in Paris.
“In fact, Russia is the one which is gaining from the war in Iran and the increase in fossil fuel prices,” he said. “If anything, we would need to strengthen the pressure.”
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is in Paris for the Group of Seven talks hosted by France, which currently chairs the group’s rotating presidency.
“Secretary Bessent was reassuring us that this is a temporary measure, but we know that it’s already a second extension of the measure which initially was meant to last only 30 days,” Dombrovskis said.
French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said a joint statement would nonetheless be made following talks that are to wind up Tuesday.
“We’ve had extremely frank discussions between people who do not necessarily agree on everything, but who are able to talk about everything,” he told journalists.
The talks aim to keep dialogue open as trade feuds spurred by US President Donald Trump’s tariff blitz compound geopolitical tensions.
