Russian oil continues to flow through legal loopholes — Razom We Stand

This was explained on Espreso TV by Maxim Gardus, a communications specialist for the Razom We Stand movement.

“Sanctioning 174 ships is a good step — but there are between 400 and 1,000 vessels involved in the trade. All of them need to be sanctioned. And coordination between key players — the U.S., Canada, the UK, and the EU — must improve. Right now, their sanctions lists overlap by less than 20%,” Gardus said.

He gave an example: a ship may be under UK sanctions, but it’s not sanctioned by the EU or Canada — and only is by the U.S.

“And while this continues, the ship can freely trade Russian oil where it’s not yet sanctioned.
 Third, the EU needs a unified sanctions body, which doesn’t exist yet. In the U.S., such structures have been in place since the Iranian Revolution, giving them extensive experience managing sanctions. It’s also crucial to lower the price cap. Right now, Russia can legally sell large amounts of oil because the prices are below the cap. This makes the term ‘shadow fleet’ meaningless—these ships aren’t breaking any rules since they sell at a lower price. Lowering the cap is the key step needed to effectively stop Russian oil exports,” the expert concluded.

Note: Razom We Stand is a Ukrainian organization working to cut off funding for Russia’s war by rejecting fossil fuels and pushing for Europe’s energy transformation.

• On May 20, the European Union approved the 17th package of anti-Russian sanctions. It affects nearly 200 ships in the "shadow fleet." The United Kingdom also announced the expansion of its sanctions list against Russia.