In an interview with French television France Televisions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was questioned about whether Russia benefits from the soaring oil prices due to US and Israeli attacks on Iran and the sharp decrease in crude oil shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
We are never happy to see wars caused by others or other countries leading to fluctuations in the global market, pushing up the prices of energy and other exported goods from Russia," Lavrov said.
However, even if the war causes shocks in the global market, Russia "will always, in any circumstances, trade and maintain economic relations with everyone who cares about trading with us" - Foreign Minister Lavrov emphasized.
Mr. Lavrov continued to comment that the US is seeking to "dominate the global energy market". He reiterated that President Donald Trump has clearly signaled that he wants to control the Strait of Hormuz with Iran. He also cited Venezuela as another example of Washington pursuing resource dominance behind a political facade.
They cite that they must overthrow a drug regime. But in fact, what the US is doing is seeking to control Venezuela's oil industry," Lavrov said.
Mr. Lavrov also spoke out about the US decision to ease restrictions on Russia's oil exports, emphasizing that "US sanctions are completely illegal. Compliance with them is impossible.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the US easing to allow Russian oil already loaded onto ships to continue to be transported is "meaningless", because oil tankers "are still operating as before". "For us and our reliable partners, those sanctions do not exist," he said.
Mr. Lavrov's statements were made when the Financial Times earlier this month called Russia the "largest winner from the Middle East conflict", estimating that Moscow is earning up to 150 million USD per day from additional budget revenue.
According to estimates by the Financial Times, with rising oil prices, Russia could earn a total of 3.3 - 4.9 billion USD by the end of March.
A separate analysis by Izvestia shows that if current tensions continue, the total amount of money Russia will collect by the end of the year could reach 3.5 trillion rubles (about 42 billion USD), enough to compensate for most of Russia's projected annual budget deficit.
