British leader Keir Starmer defended Wednesday (May 20) a contentious move to ease sanctions on imports of Russian jet fuel and diesel as the Middle East war causes prices to spiral.

But opposition parties heavily criticised the trade licence, which allows the UK to import Russian crude oil refined in third countries such as India.

Starmer in a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday (May 20) evening assured him that “as a result of the UK’s actions to date, there will be less Russian oil on the market, with Russia weaker as a result,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.

The licence is of “indefinite duration”, according to the Department of Business and Trade website, and will be periodically reviewed.

The Labour government also issued a temporary licence loosening sanctions on liquefied natural gas originating from certain Russian plants.

The UK had announced in October it would ban imports derived from Russian crude, part of a push to cut off revenues funding Russia’s war in Ukraine.

But Starmer said the government was issuing “two targeted short-term licences to phase the new sanctions in and to protect UK consumers”.

“This is not a question of lifting existing sanctions in any way whatsoever, and we will continue to work with our allies on further sanction packages,” he said.