WASHINGTON: Democrats accused US President Donald Trump on Friday of weakening pressure on Russia by easing oil sanctions amid the conflict with Iran, saying the move risks boosting Moscow&#39;s war revenues while American troops face threats of their own in the Middle East. Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and two of his top lieutenants, Elizabeth Warren and Jeanne Shaheen, called for Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to testify before Congress about the decision. The senators noted media reports&mdash;partially endorsed by Trump in an interview on Friday&mdash;saying Russia is providing Iran with intelligence that could be used to target US forces, even as the Trump administration loosens sanctions that constrained Moscow&#39;s oil sector. &quot;Russia is reportedly providing Iran intelligence to target and kill US service members, and the Trump administration&#39;s response has been to loosen pressure and help facilitate a windfall of $150 million each day for its war machine,&quot; the senators said in a joint statement. &quot;President Trump is offering more relief to the Kremlin than he is to American families, who are now paying more at the pump and for most other essentials because of this conflict,&quot; they wrote. Trump acknowledged in a radio interview that aired Friday he suspected Putin &quot;might be&quot; aiding Iran &quot;a little bit&quot; in the war. He announced earlier this week that Washington would waive some oil-related sanctions in order to boost global supply and bring down prices, as the US-Israeli war with Iran disrupts shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and sends energy markets into turmoil. The president did not specify which countries would benefit from the relief, but the move followed temporary steps allowing Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil that had been stranded at sea under existing sanctions. The Democratic senators argued that relaxing sanctions on Russian energy companies and related traders would generate major profits for Moscow at a time when the Kremlin remains under Western pressure over its invasion of Ukraine. They also questioned whether the administration had complied with a US law requiring Congress to be notified before sanctions on Russia are eased. &quot;Secretary Bessent needs to testify because Congress and the American people deserve immediate answers,&quot; the lawmakers said. Energy Secretary Chris Wright defended the sales authorizations, saying the White House was working to ease energy price pressures caused by disruptions linked to the Iran war by tapping oil already in global markets&mdash;while keeping sanctions policy toward Russia unchanged. &quot;(This) administration remains focused on American consumers and businesses while carrying out this critical mission to end Iran&#39;s ability to threaten Americans, its neighbors and global energy markets,&quot; he said in a statement on social media.

Americas

Senators notes media reports saying Russia is providing Iran with intelligence that could be used to target US forces, even as the Trump administration loosens sanctions that constrained Moscow's oil sector

Democrats accuse Trump of aiding Russia with sanctions relief

WASHINGTON:&nbsp;US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday his government was considering lifting sanctions on more Russian oil, a day after it temporarily authorized India to buy from Moscow as global oil prices surged. The US-Israel war on Iran and Tehran&#39;s retaliatory attacks across the Gulf region have upended the world&#39;s energy and transport sectors, virtually halting activity in the Strait of Hormuz. Crude soared 8.5 percent on Friday and was up nearly 30 percent for the week after President Donald Trump said only the &quot;unconditional surrender&quot; of Iran would end the Middle East war.&quot;We may unsanction other Russian oil,&quot; Bessent told Fox Business on Friday. &quot;There are hundreds of millions of barrels of sanctioned crude on the water. And in essence, by unsanctioning them, Treasury can create a supply.&quot; Washington has insisted that the new measures are not aimed at easing restrictions on Moscow, imposed over its conduct in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, but instead only affect supplies already in transit. &quot;We&#39;re going to keep a cadence of announcing measures to bring relief to the market during this conflict,&quot; said Bessent, with high oil prices a pain point both domestically and for international markets. Kremlin economic adviser Kirill Dmitriev said he was discussing the issue with the United States, posting on X that: &quot;Western sanctions have proven detrimental to the world economy.&quot; On Thursday, the US government temporarily eased economic sanctions to allow Russian oil currently stranded at sea to be sold to India. It said the transactions, including from vessels blocked by various sanctions regimes, are authorized through the end of the day on April 3, 2026.

Middle East

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the government is considering lifting sanctions on more Russian oil, a day after it temporarily authorized India to buy from Moscow as global oil prices surged

US Treasury secretary hints at lifting more Russian oil sanctions

MUMBAI:&nbsp;US and Indian trade negotiators begin two days of talks Wednesday as they try to reach a deal amid geopolitical turbulence after Washington hit New Delhi with huge tariffs over its purchases of Russian oil. The 50% levies on most goods was imposed in August, with US officials arguing the imports of discounted Russian crude effectively bankroll Moscow&#39;s war in Ukraine. Deputy US Trade Representative Rick Switzer&rsquo;s visit comes a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi embraced Russian President Vladimir Putin in New Delhi. India&rsquo;s foreign ministry described Switzer&#39;s meetings as a &ldquo;familiarization&rdquo; trip. India was among the first countries to begin trade talks after President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs on most US trade partners in April. But it is one of the few major economies still without an agreement, raising risks for jobs, economic growth and markets. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">A serious blow&nbsp;</h2>India is the world&rsquo;s fastest-growing major economy and recorded a $45.8 billion goods trade deficit with the United States in 2024. Large export categories such as smartphones and generic drugs are exempt from Trump&#39;s tariffs, but many labor-intensive industries are not. That&rsquo;s a serious blow for a country already struggling to generate well-paid jobs for millions of young graduates, and the turmoil threatens Modi&#39;s ambition to lift the country into high-income status. Fall in exports&nbsp;Exports fell nearly 12% year-on-year in October, driven by a plunge in US-bound shipments. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) estimates that labour-heavy sectors -- gems and jewelery, textiles and seafood -- saw export drops of 37&ndash;60% between May and September. Foreign investors have dumped more than $16 billion in Indian equities this year, helping push the rupee to a record low past 90 per dollar. Cut in growth forecast&nbsp;The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also cut India&rsquo;s 2026-27 growth forecast from 6.4% to 6.2%, assuming &ldquo;prolonged 50% US tariffs&rdquo;. Exports could shrink to about $49.6 billion this fiscal year, from $86.5 billion last year, potentially knocking up to 80 basis points off growth, according to the GTRI. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Severe sanctions &nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>India enthusiastically bought discounted Russian crude after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine as Moscow was hammered with severe sanctions including on its sale of oil. But Trump&#39;s decision to link trade policy to geopolitics upended US-India relations in August, with roughly half of the tariff burden stemming from Washington&#39;s attempt to penalize those purchases. No comment&nbsp;The US president has repeatedly claimed India either plans to stop, or has already mostly stopped, buying Russian oil -- a claim&nbsp;New Delhi has neither confirmed nor denied. But when in the Indian capital, Putin offered to &ldquo;continue uninterrupted shipments of fuel&rdquo;.&nbsp; Modi did not comment directly on oil flows. &lsquo;Notable dip&rsquo;However, top buyer Reliance Industries said in November it stopped importing Russian oil for its export-focused refinery, while smaller refiners like HPCL-Mittal Energy have said they have stopped entirely. Analysts at trade intelligence platform Kpler expect a &ldquo;notable dip&rdquo; in India&#39;s December&ndash;January imports. Whether that decline will sway Washington is unclear. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Rice &lsquo;dumping&rsquo;&nbsp;</h2>Talks also stalled over agriculture, with India resisting pressure to cut tariffs on staples like rice and wheat -- wary of angering its farmers, a politically powerful constituency. A senior Indian commerce ministry official told AFP that these issues are &ldquo;largely resolved&rdquo;, although Trump on Monday also criticized the country for &ldquo;dumping&rdquo; rice into the United States. Negotiating a trade pact is complicated by the need to address Trump&rsquo;s so-called reciprocal tariffs, though both tracks are linked, officials say. &ldquo;These are two separate, parallel negotiations that are going on, but one will feed into another,&rdquo; Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal told an industry event last week. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Is a breakthrough likely?</h2>Relations have improved since August, with several smaller deals advancing. That includes US approval in November for two arms sales worth nearly $93 million, and New Delhi&#39;s &ldquo;significant&rdquo; deal for the United States to supply nearly 10% of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports. Energy commitments have anchored past US trade deals, and experts say the LPG contract may help convince Washington that India is reducing its reliance on Russia.

Business

The 50% levies on most goods was imposed in August, with US officials arguing Indian imports of discounted Russian crude effectively bankroll Moscow's war in Ukraine; India’s foreign ministry described Switzer's meetings as a “familiarization” trip.

Articles tagged with "Russian oil"

Democrats accuse Trump of aiding Russia with sanctions relief

US Treasury secretary hints at lifting more Russian oil sanctions

US, India start fresh trade talks seeking elusive deal