TRUMP EASES RUSSIA OIL SANCTIONS — EUROPE FURIOUS, UKRAINE FEARS THE WORST

ISN Global News | March 13, 2026

Washington has quietly handed Moscow a lifeline — and Europe is not staying silent.

The Trump administration has issued a 30-day waiver allowing countries to purchase Russian crude oil currently stranded at sea, a move aimed at stabilising global energy markets thrown into chaos by the Iran war — but one that risks undermining Western efforts to cut off Russia's war revenues against Ukraine.

The decision has triggered immediate backlash from America's closest allies. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking alongside G7 partners, confirmed that six of the seven G7 leaders were unified in opposing the move — with only Washington breaking ranks. "We believe this is wrong," Merz stated bluntly. "We want to ensure that Russia does not exploit the war in Iran to weaken Ukraine."

Germany's Economy Minister Katherina Reiche was even more direct — warning the waiver risks "further filling Putin's war chest" at the worst possible moment.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had already drawn a red line on Wednesday, declaring "this is not the moment to relax sanctions on Russia." French President Emmanuel Macron echoed her position, calling any backtracking on Russia sanctions "unjustified."

Meanwhile, Moscow is celebrating. Russia's presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev said further easing of sanctions was now "increasingly inevitable," arguing the global energy market cannot remain stable without Russian oil. The waiver covers an estimated 100 million barrels of Russian crude — nearly a full day of global oil output.

The White House framed the move as an emergency measure to cool oil prices, which have surged past $100 a barrel as Iran's war chokes off the Strait of Hormuz — the artery through which one-fifth of global oil normally flows. But even this justification has enraged European capitals, who argue America's own war is causing the energy crisis — and now America is using it to reward Russia at Ukraine's expense.

The brutal logic is impossible to ignore: Washington launched a war that collapsed Gulf energy supply, then used that collapse as justification to ease the very sanctions designed to punish Moscow's invasion of Ukraine — overriding protests from Germany, France, and the UK in a single stroke.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky flew to Paris Thursday to meet Macron as Ukraine-Russia peace talks, already derailed by the Iran war, now face a new threat from Washington's own energy calculus.

Europe is being asked to absorb the consequences of a war it did not start, defend Ukraine without full American commitment, and now watch as Washington hands Putin a financial reprieve — all in the name of managing a crisis of America's own making.

The question European capitals are no longer whispering is this: Is Washington an ally — or a risk factor?

— ISN Global News | Reporting at the intersection of power, policy & consequence