Would Like To End Sanctions Waivers on Russian Oil: Marco Rubio

Washington: The United States said Tuesday it wants to end sanctions waivers granted to countries that buy Russian oil, arguing that the measures are time-limited to ease global supplies in the wake of the Iran war.

Testifying before the Senate Foreign Policy Committee, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the final decision on Russia’s exemption will be made by the Treasury Department.

“We want to get this done as quickly as possible because the fundamental policy of this country has been to sanction their oil. These are time-limited waivers to open up more global supplies,” Rubio told the Committee.

The United States granted an exemption from sanctions on oil purchases from Russia in March and has extended this exemption twice. The last extension was granted for one month on 17 May.

Ranking Democrat Jeanne Shaheen wanted to know from Rubio if he could make a commitment before the panel that the waiver would not be extended further when it expires on June 17.

India is among the countries benefiting from exemptions from US sanctions on the purchase of Russian oil.

Rubio said the lifting of sanctions was an attempt to mitigate the global impact of rising oil prices.

“And the problem we face is that there is a spillover potential, and that is that at some point we can do strategic reserves, we can do some of the other things that we do to mitigate global supply, but at some point you have to make sure it’s not that much for us,” Rubio said.

Ultimately, he said, the US economy did not need it, but other economies around the world benefited from Russia’s exemption.