Ruto risks US sanctions as he announces he’s willing to buy fuel from Russia
President William Ruto is open to doing business with Russia which has been isolated internationally following its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Ruto while speaking during an interview with BBC said he was willing to buy fuel from Russia if it is an option for Kenya.
The President noted that he was considering all options to lower the price of fuel in Kenya after he removed the fuel subsidy causing a sharp increase in pump prices.
"I am now going to move on to the agenda of making sure that we have government-to-government relationships that will progressively now begin the journey to bring the prices of fuel down," President Ruto said.
Asked if he will buy fuel from Russia, Ruto said;
"All options are available to us as a country."
"East Africa would be a good option but Kenya is what we are going to be focusing on. The strategy we have is to ensure that we work with the market forces on how we can have a government-to-government relationship that will get us fuel at probably Ksh20 to Ksh25 per cent cheaper than in the market," he added.
Ruto further defended his move to remove fuel subsidies, explaining that it was draining government coffers.
"Those are the interventions I am looking at but I had to remove the subsidies because they were a huge drain on resources that would be used for the development of the country and yet the prices were not coming down and it was generally distorting prices of fuel in the country and creating unnecessary shortages," he said.
Doing business with Russia is 'risky'
Ruto's announcement that his government is willing to do business with Russia will certainly put him at loggerheads with the West which has imposed crippling sanctions on Vladimir Putin's government.
The US as recently as early this month threatened to impose sanctions on buyers of Russian oil. US Treasury Department on September 9, 2022, said individuals making 'significant purchases of oil above the price cap' as well as those who provide false information about those purchases may be a target for sanctions enforcement action.
The warning from Joe Biden administration applies to purchasers of Russian oil around the world that are considering whether to respect the price cap set by G7 nations.
The US Treasury’s guidance came after G7 finance ministers reached an agreement to establish the price cap after months of discussion. The goal is to limit Russia’s revenue from exports of crude oil and refined products without triggering a global price spike.
Even if Kenya can dodge US sanctions, doing business with Russia is still very difficult after the US and other nations cut it from the SWIFT system.
SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is the global financial artery that allows the smooth and rapid transfer of money across borders.
The EU, US, UK and others ejected Russia from the Swift system to disconnect Putin from the international financial system and harm the ability of the Russian government to operate globally.
