TASS reported on March 14 local time that Russian President's press secretary Peskov spoke about the "relaxation of U.S. sanctions on Russian oil."

He said that under the current Middle East situation, Russian oil is absolutely essential for the world market, and after the U.S. relaxed the sanctions, many countries have already shown their intention to purchase oil from Russia.

On March 12 local time, the U.S. Treasury issued a 30-day exemption allowing countries to purchase Russian crude oil and petroleum products currently stranded at sea. This temporary exemption will be valid until April 11.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Bensont said that releasing this Russian oil could add hundreds of millions of barrels of supply to the global market, which would help ease the rising oil prices due to the recent Iran conflict. At the same time, he claimed that this measure would not bring significant financial benefits to the Russian government.

Regarding this matter, Peskov said in an interview with TASS: "At present, in order to stabilize the global energy market, the United States has agreed to implement a one-month exemption for Russia. On this issue, we share common interests with the United States."

He added: "It is obvious. The international energy infrastructure cannot afford the consequences of losing a large amount of Russian oil. Russian oil is essential... the market is indeed vast, and there are many people who are willing to buy Russian oil."

In order to lower oil prices, the U.S. government had to temporarily suspend its sanctions against Russia, a practice that can be described as "patching one wall by breaking another," which has already caused dissatisfaction among European allies.

According to CNN, German Chancellor Merkel criticized that regardless of the reason, relaxing the sanctions on Russian oil now is "a mistake." Merkel also said she hopes to ensure that Russia does not take advantage of the Iran war to weaken Ukraine.

On the 11th, EU Commission President von der Leyen had stated that it was not yet the time to relax sanctions against Russia. On the same day, she also told the European Parliament that under the current crisis, abandoning long-term strategies and relying again on Russian fossil fuels would be "a strategic mistake."

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Original: toutiao.com/article/7617078498481472006/

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