Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has commented on Washington’s reported plan to tighten oil sanctions
The administration of US President Joe Biden is making every effort to sour Washington’s relations with Moscow before its term is over, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Peskov was asked to comment on a Bloomberg report claiming that the White House is eyeing “new, harsher sanctions against Russia’s lucrative oil trade,” as President-elect Donald Trump is set to be sworn in at the end of January.
The agency said, citing sources, that the Biden administration had long been reluctant to crack down on oil exports for fear of triggering a spike in energy prices. However, with prices now falling and concerns that Trump could force Ukraine to sue for peace, the White House is considering “more aggressive action,” the report said.
Commenting on the reported deliberations, Peskov said many experts predict that the Biden administration “will try to leave a difficult legacy in terms of escalating tensions in relations with Russia.”
“It is obvious that the current administration will follow this path and will try to leave this legacy. How and in what way – we will see together,” he added.
The Western-dominated G7 group introduced a price cap of $60 per barrel for Russian crude oil in 2022 as part of sanctions related to the Ukraine conflict aimed at undermining the Russian economy, while restricting entities from providing related logistical, financial, and insurance services. Several countries, including China and India, which are major importers of Russian oil, have refused to comply with the price cap.
Last month, the US approved Ukrainian strikes deep into Russian territory using American-supplied long-range missiles, which Moscow viewed as a significant escalation. After Kiev conducted attacks, Russia retaliated with its new medium-range hypersonic Oreshnik missile.
Russian President Vladimir Putin did not rule out last month that the Biden administration is deliberately escalating the standoff over Ukraine to make life more difficult for its successor. However, he suggested that Trump “is an intelligent and already quite experienced person” and might be able to find a solution to the crisis.
The president-elect has vowed to bring a swift end to the Ukraine conflict, with one of the possible plans reportedly being to freeze the conflict and force Kiev to suspend its NATO ambitions. Moscow has ruled out a freeze, stressing that all the goals its military operation, including Ukrainian neutrality, demilitarization, and denazification, must be met.
