A gift for the Kremlin? The US lifts sanctions on ships carrying Ukrainian grain

The US Ministry of Finance announced on Tuesday that sanctions had been lifted from three Russian merchant ships. The circumstances of this decision were not explained. According to Ukrainian media, one of the container ships was used by Russia to transport grain from the occupied territories of Ukraine.

Sanctions have been lifted from the ships Fesco Moneron, Fesco Magadan and St. Nikolai, according to a statement from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published on Tuesday. The US imposed restrictions on them in 2022.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Finance assured the Ukrainian website Kyiv Independent that the lifting of sanctions “does not indicate a broader change in American policy regarding Russia.”

The first two commodities mentioned are linked to Fesco, an operator operating in the Russian Far East that is subject to sanctions by Ukraine, the UK and the EU. Saint Nikolai was involved in transporting grain from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory to Turkey, the Kyiv Independent reported.

In early March, the administration in Washington suspended sanctions on Russian oil already loaded on ships. On Tuesday, the Russian tanker Anatoly Kolodkin with a shipment of crude oil arrived in Cuba despite the ongoing energy blockade of the island announced by the United States. American authorities allowed the vessel to dock in the Cuban port of Matanzas.

From Washington Natalia Dziurdzińska (PAP)

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