Kremlin says sanctions must be lifted before it will end diesel export ban
Moscow ties the fuel restriction to broader sanctions relief, repeating a demand it has made across energy and finance
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The Kremlin says sanctions on Russia must be lifted before it will end its ban on diesel exports, Tass reported.
Russia first imposed the ban on July 8, after Ukrainian drone strikes hit much of the country's refining infrastructure, according to OPIS. Vedomosti, as reported by Hydrocarbon Processing, said Moscow also restricted exports of gasoline and jet fuel because the strikes had worsened domestic fuel shortages. Russia normally produces 50% more diesel than it uses, according to estimates from S&P Global Commodity Insights analysts.
Bloomberg News reported on September 21 that Russia was preparing to extend the diesel ban beyond the end of September, citing people familiar with the matter, as Ukrainian attacks on refineries continued.
The Kremlin's statement repeats a position it has held for months: that sanctions relief must come before trade in energy, finance and now fuels can return to normal. It sets no new deadline and offers no fresh leverage in talks that remain stalled on Moscow's insistence that the West act first, before substantive negotiations over Ukraine begin.