VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis on Sunday called for vaccinations to be shared with the world’s poorest countries, saying they were “an essential tool” in the fight against COVID-19.
“I urge the entire international community... to commit to overcoming delays in the distribution of vaccines and to facilitate their distribution, especially in the poorest countries,” the head of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics said in his Easter address.
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Pope calls for vaccines to be shared with poorest nations
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Pope calls for vaccines to be shared with poorest nations
- Pope Francis said the vaccines are essential tools in the fight against the virus
Kremlin welcomes US sanctions waiver, says US and Russia share interest in stable energy markets
- US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Thursday a temporary authorization allowing countries around the world to purchase Russian oil
DUBAI: Russia sees a US sanctions waiver on its oil as an attempt by Washington to stabilize global energy markets, and the two countries have a shared interest in this, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
“We see actions by the United States aimed at trying to stabilize energy markets. In this respect, our interests coincide,” Peskov said.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Thursday a temporary authorization which allows countries around the world to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea, extending a measure that had previously been granted only to Indian refiners.
Bessent stressed in a post on X that the authorization would not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government.
He said: “This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, which derives the majority of its energy revenue from taxes assessed at the point of extraction.”
However, the move has met with a mixed reaction in European capitals, with many fearing it could aid Russia’s assault on Ukraine.
“I am concerned that we are further filling Putin’s war chest,” German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said in Berlin on Friday.
Reiche added that she saw both sides to the US’ decision to issue a 30-day waiver for the purchase of Russian oil products, and understood the increasing economic and political strife caused by the oil crisis.
“It seems to me that domestic political pressure in the United States is very, very high,” Reiche said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was more direct, saying on Friday that it was wrong to ease sanctions on Russia for any reason. The sentiment was echoed by Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, who said sanctions should not be eased.
Oil prices held gains above $100 on Friday and most equity markets dropped after Iran’s leader called for the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz and the opening up of new fronts in the war against the US and Israel.
With the conflict heading toward its third week and showing no sign of ending, investors are growing increasingly worried about an extended crisis that could fan inflation and hammer the global economy.
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