PARIS, France, May 19, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The European Union on Tuesday criticised the latest US waiver of sanctions on Russian oil, announced while G7 finance ministers were meeting to reach a common response to multiple economic challenges.

Washington's move aims to help lower energy prices that have skyrocketed since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran in February, effectively shutting the Strait of Hormuz to Gulf oil tanker traffic.

But EU economics commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis denounced the extensions, which have given Moscow a financial boost as it pursues its war against Ukraine.

"From the EU point of view, we do not think that this is a time to ease pressure on Russia," Dombrovskis told journalists while arriving for a second day of G7 talks in Paris.

"In fact, Russia is the one which is gaining from the war in Iran and the increase in fossil fuel prices," he said. "If anything, we would need to strengthen the pressure."

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is in Paris for the Group of Seven talks hosted by France, which currently chairs the group's rotating presidency.

"Secretary Bessent was reassuring us that this is a temporary measure, but we know that it's already a second extension of the measure which initially was meant to last only 30 days," Dombrovskis said.

Bessent said Monday in a social media post that the extension will "provide the most vulnerable nations with the ability to temporarily access Russian oil currently stranded at sea".

"We have had frank, sometimes difficult, direct discussions to find long-term and short-term solutions to major global economic challenges in order to guarantee economic stability," said French Finance Minister Roland Lescure after the meeting attended by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Dombrovskis later added that "the G7 is a forum for cooperation, it's a forum for discussion" among like-minded allies, "but we are not always 100 percent aligned on everything and this is unfortunately one of those topics."

The final communique of the G7 ministers and central bank governors reaffirmed "our commitment to multilateral cooperation in addressing risks to the global economy".

Against the backdrop of the Middle East war, the statement highlighted "multiple and complex global challenges requiring coordinated responses".

Dombrovskis called "it a good statement and a successful outcome" of the meeting, adding it "provides a good basis to work towards a summit next month".