The United States has approved the temporary sale of stranded Russian oil to India.

The United States government on Thursday temporarily eased certain economic sanctions on Russia to allow Russian oil currently stranded at sea to be sold to India.

In a statement, the U.S. Treasury Department said its Office of Foreign Assets Control had issued a Russia-related licence authorising the delivery and sale of crude oil and petroleum products of Russian origin that were already loaded on vessels as of March 5, 2026, to India.

According to the department, the authorised transactions, including those involving vessels affected by various sanctions regimes, will be permitted until the end of April 3, 2026.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the waiver was introduced to ensure that oil continues to flow into the global market.
He explained that the short-term measure would not provide significant financial gains for the Russian government, as it only covers oil that was already stranded at sea.

Bessent also noted that the move is intended to ease pressure created by Iran’s attempts to disrupt global energy supply, even though India has indicated it plans to halt purchases of Russian oil as part of a trade agreement with the United States.

Last November, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on major Russian oil companies, including Lukoil and Rosneft, in a rare effort to increase pressure on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

The sanctions prompted several major buyers of Russian oil to look for alternative suppliers.

Reports have also indicated that Russia has assembled a fleet of ageing oil tankers with unclear ownership structures to bypass sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union, and the G7 following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.