By Daniel Flynn and Olena Harmash

KYIV, March 26 (Reuters) – Ukraine ⁠is ⁠using long-range strikes on energy ⁠infrastructure to maintain pressure on Russia after international oil sanctions on Moscow ​were eased this month in the wake of the Iran war, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

Washington issued a 30-day ‌waiver this month for countries to ‌buy sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products stranded at sea in an effort to stabilise global ⁠energy markets ⁠roiled by the conflict in the Middle East. 

Ukraine’s European allies, who want ​to maintain pressure on Russia to end its four-year-old war, have criticised the move by Washington.

Asked about an escalation in recent days of Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, Zelenskiy noted the shift in international sanctions policy: “The pressure ​on Russia in the world is decreasing.”

“Therefore, unlike most countries in the world, Ukraine has ⁠its own ⁠sanctions: its long-range capabilities,” he ⁠told Reuters ​in an interview late on Wednesday.

Following heavy Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukrainian cities in recent ​days, Zelenskiy added that pressure ⁠on Moscow needed to be maintained: “If Ukraine does not respond to their attacks, Russia will simply continue the war and not even think about pauses.”

RUSSIAN EXPORTS DISRUPTED 

On Wednesday, Russia’s Baltic ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk suspended crude oil and oil products loadings, sources told Reuters, after Ukrainian drone attacks sparked blazes, ⁠with smoke visible from Finland.

Primorsk resumed oil and fuel loadings on Thursday, though at ⁠lower capacity than normal because of damage to its infrastructure, three sources said.

Ukraine’s SBU security service said in a statement on Wednesday that its long-range drones had flown over 900 km (560 miles) from its Alpha Special Operations Center to strike the Ust-Luga terminal.

Reuters calculations based on market data showed on Wednesday that at least 40% of Russia’s oil export capacity had been halted as a result of the Ukrainian drone attacks, a disputed attack on a major pipeline and the seizure of tankers.

The shutdown is the most severe ⁠oil supply disruption in the modern history of Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter. It has hit Moscow just as oil prices exceeded $100 a barrel due to the Iran war.

Russia’s oil pipeline monopoly Transneft will try to redirect oil exports from the Baltic Sea ​ports damaged by drone attacks, Interfax news agency reported on Thursday.

(Reporting by Daniel ​Flynn and Olena Harmash; Editing by Andrei Khalip)

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