The UK government has effectively relaxed sanctions on Russian-origin jet fuel and diesel by issuing a new licence that exempts these products from existing Russia sanctions regulations. The move comes after the government announced in October 2025 that it would ban imports of oil products refined in third countries using Russian crude oil, a measure that would have significantly disrupted supply chains for British aviation fuel.
Britain is heavily reliant on jet fuel imports, particularly from India, which has become a major processor of Russian crude oil. Indian jet fuel exports to the UK surged after the original Russia sanctions were imposed in 2022, as refiners in India purchased discounted Russian crude and sold the refined products to Western markets. The planned extension of sanctions to cover these third-country refined products threatened to cut off a substantial portion of the UK's jet fuel supply, contributing to shortages that have already caused flight cancellations at British airports.
Trade Minister Chris Bryant acknowledged the policy reversal in unusually candid terms, stating that the government had handled the matter clumsily and accepting personal responsibility for the confusion. At Prime Minister's Questions, however, Keir Starmer declined to characterise the new licence as a relaxation of sanctions, maintaining the government's broader commitment to pressuring Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. The episode has drawn scrutiny from opposition figures and sanctions experts who question whether the UK's energy security vulnerabilities are undermining its stated foreign policy objectives.
The decision arrives at a particularly sensitive moment for global energy markets. Concerns over the Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant share of the world's oil passes, have added to supply anxieties. Meanwhile, Russia's oil and gas revenues have climbed to a two-year high, driven in part by rising oil prices, after reaching a six-year low in February. Critics argue that the UK's dependence on fuel products derived from Russian crude effectively channels revenue back to Moscow, regardless of intermediate processing steps, raising broader questions about the effectiveness of Western energy sanctions.