The United States affirmed that it does not object to Pakistan’s choice to import oil from Moscow days after Islamabad placed its first order for Russian crude oil. During its weekly briefing, US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel stated that “each country is going to make its own sovereign decisions as it relates to its energy supply.”
According to an agreement between Islamabad and Moscow, Pakistan made its first purchase for Russian crude oil last week, with the first shipment scheduled to arrive at Karachi port in May. The purchase of Pakistan gives Russia a new market, expanding Moscow’s supplies to India and China as it diverts oil from Western markets due to the conflict in Ukraine.
“One of the reasons the United States, through the G7, has been a big proponent of the price cap is to ensure that steps are not being taken to keep Russian energy off the market because we understand that there is a demand for supply,”
The regulated purchase would only have an impact on third-world nations like Pakistan because Europe and the US no longer import crude oil from Russia. Because Pakistan does not buy oil from Russia, Islamabad has not yet signed the agreement.
