A senior Labour lawmaker is urging the British government to close a sanctions loophole that allows jet fuel and other refined oil products derived from Russian crude oil to enter the U.K., Politico reported. 

Liam Byrne, the Labour MP who chairs the House of Commons Business and Trade Committee, said the government must move quickly from announcements to enforcement after ministers pledged to ban oil products made with Russian crude in third countries. 

“The government is right to move to close this loophole, but speed is now critical,” Byrne told Politico. “Every month the ban is delayed risks tens of millions of pounds still flowing to Russia’s war effort.”

The U.K. banned direct imports of Russian oil in December 2022, roughly 10 months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and has since broadened sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his associates. But new research cited by Politico argues that refined products made in countries that buy Russian crude and process it into fuels can still reach the British market.

The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) found the U.K. imported about £4 billion of jet fuel and other oil products between the start of the direct-import ban and the end of 2025 from refineries in India and Turkey that “run partially on Russian crude.” CREA estimated that £1.6 billion worth of those imports would have been made using Russian oil, Politico said.

With the war approaching its fifth year, ministers pledged in October to close the gap by banning oil products made with Russian crude in third countries. However, the government has yet to bring the promised ban into force, according to the news outlet. 

A government spokesperson told Politico they “expect” the ban to be introduced in spring 2026, yet critics cited in the report say that the U.K. must move faster. 

“Roughly one in six jet fuel shipments entering the U.K. comes from refineries running on Russian crude, and we’re buying it for a measly two percent discount,” CREA analyst Isaac Levi told Politico.  “The U.K. doesn’t need this fuel, but it is helping bankroll Putin’s war machine.” 

“Every month the U.K. delays banning oil products made from Russian crude, it’s effectively writing the Kremlin a cheque for around £44 million,” he said. 

Read more at Politico