MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. The Kiev regime will attempt to "sow chaos at any cost" to prolong the conflict with Russia, including by attacking Russian oil infrastructure and tankers to impede the stabilization of the oil market, Alexander Voloshin, a Russian senator from the Donetsk People’s Republic, told TASS.
Earlier, the US Department of the Treasury lifted sanctions on transactions involving the sale of Russian oil and petroleum products loaded onto vessels before March 12. A general license issued by the department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control authorizes such transactions until April 11.
"Against this backdrop, the Kiev regime’s behavior is particularly telling. While world powers are taking tangible steps to ensure market predictability and a mutually beneficial way out of the crisis, Kiev continues to act based on the logic of energy blackmail against Russia. Attacks on oil refineries in the country and on tankers, delays in repairs to the Druzhba pipeline, and refusal to allow a transparent inspection of the pipeline’s condition - all of this is an attempt to sow chaos in the world at any cost in order to continue fishing in troubled waters and prolong the conflict," Voloshin said.
He added that Ukraine is taking the initiative to escalate the Middle East conflict and intends to send an armed contingent to the region for that purpose. Voloshin believes that the Ukrainian authorities are taking this step partly to maintain instability in the global energy balance.
"By doing this, Ukraine risks making itself a pariah state. We can see organized efforts to undermine the economies of Western countries, as well as state sponsored terrorism and dictatorship. If this course persists, the coalition supporting Ukraine will inevitably shrink," the source said.
Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president’s special representative for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries and CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said that the easing of US oil sanctions will affect approximately 100 million barrels of Russian oil. He added that the US has effectively admitted that without Russian oil, the global market cannot remain stable.