Russia suffered a severe setback with the death of one of its main allies, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but in recent hours it has gone from being harmed to one of the greatest beneficiaries of the war in Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The reason? The decision of the United States to lift sanctions on Russian oil given the situation created in international markets due to the lack of crude oil and the rise in prices.
The decision by the US Treasury Department comes after Russian oil and refined products exports fell in February to their lowest level since the start of the war in Ukraine. Now, the Kremlin’s economic emissary, Kiril Dmitriev, estimated the number of barrels that are now in the sea and that have been released by the United States at nearly 100 million.
According to the Financial Times, every day the rise in international crude oil prices represents an income of 150 million dollars for Russian coffers. If the price of Russian Urals brand oil remains above $70, Moscow could earn up to $5 billion in March.
Putin, the winner of the war
About this, the analysts of El Gabinete de Julia in the wave. Víctor Guillot, Julio Lleonart and Arantxa Tirado believe that, for the moment, the winner of the conflict is Vladimir Putin, since what has happened in the last few hours “is an amendment to the entire policy that the US and the EU have made in defense of Ukraine because the US is going to allow Europe to trade again with the oil that finances the Russian troops on the Ukrainian front.”
According to Víctor Guillot, we are currently facing “world disorder” caused because now the figures who really move the armies and decide the sovereignty of the states, “are beginning to acquire a power that they did not have three weeks ago.”
“This does not affect the US as much because it has energy self-sufficiency as a result of fracking which he achieved years ago,” says Víctor, while Julio Lleonart explains that although this affects the West a lot, he does not believe that it is the markets that stop Trump: “It happened with the tariffs. The markets did not take them away, it was their own judicial system.”
Kremlin says “many” countries want its oil
The Kremlin has assured this Saturday that there are “many” countries that want to import Russian oil due to the situation created in international markets by the war in Iran. “Indeed, the market is very large and there are many people interested in acquiring Russian oil,” Dmitri Peskov, presidential spokesman, told the TASS agency.
He stressed that “the situation is evident. The world’s energy infrastructure cannot give up the entry of large volumes of Russian oil. This Russian crude oil is necessary.” “And now, when some of that oil begins to enter the energy markets, then great stability occurs. That’s how the economy works,” he added.
In turn, Peskov has highlighted the United States’ decision to lift for one month the ban on importing Russian oil that is in transit aboard oil tankers on the high seas. “In that case, our interest coincides with that of the Americans,” he said.
