No restrictions on purchasing oil, gas from Russia
As Pakistan explores the import of food and energy stocks from Russia amidst a heated global market in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States on Tuesday clarified that there were no sanctions on Moscow’s energy exports.
“To be very clear, we’ve been intentional about exempting oil and gas – the energy sector – from the sanctions that have been imposed on Russia,” said US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price during the daily press briefing on Tuesday.
He was responding when asked about the recent energy imports by India.
Price said that India has a high demand for energy and that it continues to seek oil and other forms of energy from Russia.
“That is not something that runs afoul of the sanctions that have been imposed.”
However, he clarified that this is not the time for business as usual with Russia.
“It’s incumbent on countries around the world to do what they can to lessen those economic ties with Russia,” he said.
The US diplomat added that this is something that is in the collective interest, but it’s also in the bilateral interest of countries around the world to end and wean their dependence on Russian energy.
“There have been a number of countries that have learned the hard way of the fact that Russia is not a reliable source of energy,” he said, adding Russia is not a reliable supplier of security assistance or reliable in any realm.
