Senior US lawmakers condemned the Trump administration’s decision to extend “temporary” sanctions relief for Russian oil, warning that the move gives Moscow more money to fund its war against Ukraine.
The joint statement was issued on Monday by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, after Treasury General License 134B expired on May 16, 2026. The senators said the administration had again extended relief for Russian oil.
“The Trump Administration is delivering another dangerous and indefensible gift to Vladimir Putin by extending sanctions relief for Russian oil yet again,” Shaheen and Warren said.
They argued that every additional dollar earned by the Kremlin through the license helps Putin finance Russian aggression and “kill innocent Ukrainians.”
The senators also rejected the administration’s economic justification for the move.
“With gas prices continuing to rise and inflation spiking, the Administration has not shown that this relief is lowering costs for American families or stabilizing global energy markets,” the statement said.
Shaheen and Warren said the administration’s stated concern for energy-vulnerable countries would be more credible if it had used policy tools to limit the prices Russia could charge those countries. Instead, they argued, the policy had helped Moscow charge more for its oil cargoes by removing the risk of sanctions.
The lawmakers said the timing of the extension was especially troubling, citing Russia’s recent deadly attack on Kyiv, strikes on American businesses operating in Ukraine, and Moscow’s support for Iran in targeting US service members.
“This decision is particularly galling,” the statement said.
A series of Russian missile and drone strikes has increasingly hit major American corporate facilities operating in Ukraine. According to recent intelligence reporting and media investigations, Russian attacks have damaged infrastructure and assets linked to prominent US companies such as Cargill, Coca-Cola, Boeing, Philip Morris, and Mondelez International.
The senators warned that continuing what they described as weakness would “invite more aggression” and push a just end to Russia’s war further away.
The criticism comes as Ukraine has stepped up its own long-range strikes against Russian energy infrastructure.
On Tuesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine’s “long-range sanctions” have cut Russian oil refining by 10% in recent months and forced Russian oil companies to shut down wells.