The US Discredited Its Own Sanctions By Buying Refined Russian Oil Products Via India

The takeaway is that the resource aspect of the US’ anti-Russian sanctions is a charade since the very same country that unilaterally imposed these restrictions is defying their spirit upon exploiting a legal loophole to purchase refined Russian oil products from India.

Popular Indian media outlet TheWire reported on an article over the weekend from Telegraph India alleging that their globally significant Great Power is exporting Russian oil products to the US, and not only that, but without Washington violating its own sanctions either despite defying their very spirit. Their piece linked to an article reminding readers that “U.S. and EU sanctions do not apply to refined products produced from Russian crude exported from a third country as they are not of Russian origin.”

It's this legal loophole that oil market analyst Viktor Katona implied was employed by the US to get around its own restrictions on purchasing Russian resources. His claims are compelling and factually based too since he cites official statistics showing that there’s a correlation between the surge in India’s Russian oil imports and its export of refined oil products to the US. If there’s indeed some causation between them as arguably appears to be the case, then the implications would be extremely important.

First, the US would be spitting in the face of its own anti-Russian sanctions despite continuing to pressure all others in the international community to comply with these unilateral restrictions. Second, this would be done due to an absence of choice whereby the US doesn’t have any realistic alternatives to importing refined Russian oil products. Third, continuing to pressure others to comply with the same sanctions that the US itself is getting around via a loophole would confirm their political basis all along.

Expanding upon the preceding insight, the fourth implication is that the sanctions would therefore have always been imposed for the purpose of reasserting the US’ declining unipolar hegemony over its vassals, which succeeded with respect to Europe but failed everyone else. And finally, the fifth point is that India plays an integral role in helping the US replenish its depleting stockpile of refined Russian oil products that Washington both consumes within its own borders and exports for profit to its vassals.

The takeaway is that the resource aspect of the US’ anti-Russian sanctions is a charade since the very same country that unilaterally imposed these restrictions is defying their spirit upon exploiting a legal loophole to purchase refined Russian oil products from India. That just goes to show that nothing is as it seems, and moreover, that even the US itself tacitly acknowledges the impossibility of truly “isolating” Russia from the global economy like it officially claims has already been done.