Starmer splits from Trump on lifting Russia sanctions

US Treasury is ‘temporarily’ allowing purchase of Russian oil from tankers ‘stranded at sea’ in an effort to stabilise markets

- ATHENA STAVROU, MILLIE COOKE

Sir Keir Starmer has risked a fresh rift with Donald Trump by confirming that Britain won’t be following the US in lifting sanctions on Russian oil, saying that the move risks helping Vladimir Putin’s ‘‘war machine’’.

No 10 has instead urged its international allies to maintain pressure on Moscow, and to avoid inadvertently funding Putin’s war in Ukraine by purchasing Russian oil.

Mr Trump’s decision to issue exemptions for Russian oil already at sea has sparked fears that Putin could use the Iran conflict to boost Russia’s own war chest, with foreign secretary Yvette Cooper accusing Russia and Iran of attempting to ‘‘hijack the global economy’’.

It comes amid concerns that instability in the Middle East could hit the cost of living around the world, after Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, jumped to more than $100 (#74) a barrel earlier this week for the first time since 2022. Meanwhile, it has been estimated that Russia is earning as much as $150m a day in extra revenue from its oil sales as a result of surging prices.

But as the conflict continued to escalate, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth played down concerns over disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, claiming that the US was ‘‘decimating’’ the Iranian regime. He also told a news conference that Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, had been wounded and probably disfigured in the recent attacks.