Olusegun Ariyo
United States President, Donald Trump, is ready to impose more restrictions on Russia’s oil, gas and banking sectors.
CBS News reports that Trump plans to restrict Russian access to US payment systems, according to four people familiar with the plans.
On Wednesday, the Treasury Department let lapse a 60-day exemption put in place by the Joe Biden administration in January.
The exemption allowed specific energy transactions involving sanctioned Russian banks to continue.
By letting the waiver lapse, the banks may no longer access U.S. payment systems to conduct major energy transactions.
Russian financial institutions that were exempted from sanctions included Vnesheconombank, Bank Financial Corporation Otkritie, Sovcombank, Sberbank, VTB Bank, Alfa-Bank, Rosbank, Bank Zenit, Bank Saint-Petersburg and the Central Bank of Russia.
The decision to further restrict access to American banking systems will make it more difficult for other countries to buy Russian oil, thus limiting its global supply.
This could lead to a price spike of up to $5 per barrel more, a notable jump after lower prices in recent weeks.
But the stiffer restrictions also come as the Trump administration is trying to convince Russia to accept terms of a proposed 30-day ceasefire to end the war in Ukraine.
