The Trump administration has extended a controversial waiver on sanctions targeting Russian seaborne oil and other petroleum products after letting it expire two days earlier. 

The OFAC general license issued on Monday extends sanctions exemptions permitting the sale of Russian crude oil and petroleum loaded on vessels, included blacklisted tankers, on or before April 17. Under the new general license, such wind-down activity is permitted through 12:01 a.m. on June 17, 2026. 

Administration officials defended the waiver as a temporary step to help prevent a deeper global energy shock as fighting in the Middle East pushed oil prices higher, while critics in Washington and Kyiv argued the policy effectively handed Moscow a financial reprieve as the United States and its European allies sought to tighten economic pressure on Russia over its war against Ukraine, according to RFE/RL. 

Two senior Democratic senators, Jeanne Shaheen and Elizabeth Warren, urged the administration on May 15 not to renew the waiver, saying there was no indication it had reduced fuel costs for American consumers while allowing Russia to continue generating billions in oil revenue, RFE/RL reported.

“Treasury must finally end its ill-conceived policy of helping Russia make even more money from President [Donald] Trump’s reckless war in Iran,” the senators said in a joint statement cited by the news agency.

On Monday, Sujata Sharma, a joint secretary in the Indian petroleum ministry, said India has been buying Russian oil irrespective of the department’s waivers, Reuters separately reported. 

“Regarding (the) American waiver on Russia, ⁠I would like to emphasize that we have been purchasing from Russia earlier… I mean before waiver also, during waiver also, and now also,” she said in remarks cited by Reuters. “Enough crude has been tied up repeatedly … ⁠and this, whatever waiver or no waiver, it will ⁠not affect.”