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US attempts to drive Russia out of energy markets — Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister noted that a couple of weeks after the Alaska summit the Donald Trump administration announced US sanctions on Lukoil and Rosneft

MOSCOW, February 18. /TASS/. The United States is attempting to push Russia out of global energy markets while making statements on future cooperation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Al Arabiya television.

"A couple of weeks after Alaska, out of the blue, for the first time since Biden’s presidency, the Donald Trump administration announced US sanctions on Lukoil and Rosneft. Then the Americans announced they were demanding that India stops buying Russian oil. Then Venezuela happened. In the latest development, OFAC [the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury - TASS] issued a resolution permitting the Venezuelan oil industry to resume operation but prohibiting the involvement of Russia, China, Iran and the DPRK," Lavrov said.

"I mean, while the Americans sincerely told us that, once the Ukraine issue has been settled, we can begin mutually beneficial cooperation, for now, they have been trying to force us out of global energy markets," he stressed.

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Sergey Lavrov United States

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