British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday defended a contentious move to ease sanctions on imports of Russian jet fuel and diesel as the Middle East war drives global energy prices higher, Ada Derana reported citing AFP.

The new trade licence allows the UK to import Russian crude oil refined in third countries such as India — a route the UK had banned in October as part of a push to choke off revenues funding Russia’s war in Ukraine.

In a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday evening, Starmer said “as a result of the UK’s actions to date, there will be less Russian oil on the market, with Russia weaker as a result,” a Downing Street spokesperson said. The licence is of “indefinite duration”, according to the UK Department of Business and Trade, and will be reviewed periodically.

The Labour government also issued a temporary licence loosening sanctions on liquefied natural gas originating from certain Russian plants. Starmer said the government was issuing “two targeted short-term licences to phase the new sanctions in and to protect UK consumers” — and insisted “this is not a question of lifting existing sanctions in any way whatsoever.”

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused the prime minister of “choosing to buy dirty Russian oil. That money will be used to fund the killing of Ukrainian soldiers.”

The European Union criticised an earlier US sanctions waiver for Russian oil cargoes already at sea — extended on Monday for the second time — at a G7 finance ministers’ meeting on Tuesday that the UK attended. EU economics commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said it was not a time to “ease pressure on Russia.” UK Treasury minister Dan Tomlinson told Sky News the easing was “protecting the UK national interest.” Trade minister Chris Bryant later apologised to MPs for the government’s “clumsy” handling of the issue and said he wanted the licences to be “as temporary as possible.”

Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes launched in February, though traffic has slowly edged higher during the current ceasefire. The international Brent benchmark remained close to USD 110 a barrel on Wednesday — far above pre-war levels.

The UK move materially validates the same India-refined Russian-crude supply route that Sri Lanka and other South Asian fuel importers have been using through the war cycle. CBSL Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe earlier this week confirmed that Sri Lanka’s March 2026 fuel import bill rose to USD 630 million, up 74.7% year-on-year, with the elevated bill cited as a key driver of the rupee’s slide to record lows.

Source: Ada Derana.