Since Donald Trump's return to the White House last year, Washington has attempted to starve Russia's energy trade, fueling what it refers to as Moscow's "war machine," in part by removing two of its most faithful customers: India and China. The White House imposed huge levies on New Delhi's exports and sanctioned two of Russia's top energy companies. The idea appeared to be working until Trump declared war on Iran, halting exports from the critical energy-producing area.
This put the Kremlin in a good position to reap the benefits of the Middle East's escalating turmoil. Last Monday, the US allowed Indian refiners a 30-day permission to import Russian oil that is now trapped at sea.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the action was made "to ensure that oil continues to flow into the global market."
He also suggested that the US may relax more Ukraine-related sanctions on Russian oil to assist boost world supplies.When Russian President Vladimir Putin entered 2026, he faced two choices: curtail his so-called special military operation in Ukraine or incur serious economic hardship. Moscow's budget for this year assumes a baseline benchmark of $59 per barrel of Urals oil, the country's principal export blend. However, due to Western sanctions, high interest rates, and manpower shortages, oil receipts fell to their lowest level since 2020 in January, adding to a poor tax haul.

As Russia's finance ministry and central bank pondered ways to reduce the harm, Trump presented Putin with a solution. US-Israeli strikes on Iran have pushed oil prices skyrocketing, boosting the Kremlin's primary source of wealth.
After Iranian oil facilities were destroyed over the weekend, benchmark crude prices jumped beyond $100 per barrel, reaching their highest level since the summer of 2022, when markets spiked following Russia's full-fledged invasion of Ukraine. The increase in oil prices provided an economic windfall at a critical time for Russia, as the expense of the Ukraine war threatened to spill over into a domestic economic crisis.The United States then launched an attack on Iran alongside Israel. Tehran's retaliation escalated the dispute into a regional war, causing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to halt and raise oil prices.Suddenly, Moscow received this gift.They had a lifeline," Vladimir Milov, a former deputy energy minister and Kremlin critic in exile, told Politico.
According to Milov, Russian officials are currently "very, very happy."
Profits For Moscow
According to US media reports, despite the global oil crisis, Russian petroleum may suddenly fetch premium prices rather than selling at a discount due to Western sanctions, as its key importers, India and China, scurry to obtain supply with Washington's approval.After chatting with Putin, Trump announced that the US will lift oil-related sanctions on "some countries" to alleviate the shortage.
Trump also called Putin on Monday to discuss the conflict and other problems. Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign affairs adviser, stated that after speaking with Gulf leaders and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Putin "voiced a few ideas regarding a quick political and diplomatic settlement" of the dispute.
The Kremlin is taking full advantage of the current situation."Russia was and continues to be a reliable supplier of both oil and gas," Putin's spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said on Friday, sounding like a sales pitch. He also stated that demand for Russian energy products has soared.

Meanwhile, Kremlin advisor Kirill Dmitriev gloated on X, claiming that "the oil shock tsunami is just beginning." He also called Europe's choice to shut itself off from Russian energy "a strategic mistake."