The Trump administration temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian oil “stranded at sea” Thursday in an effort to contain skyrocketing energy prices due to Iranian threats against tanker ships.

The United States did not extend a sanctions exemption that had allowed the sale of some Russian oil, stepping back from a contentious plan to try and contain global crude prices that was also providing an economic windfall to Moscow.

Moscow on Friday urged the United States to lift more sanctions on its oil exports to stabilise the global energy markets, upended by the war in the Middle East.

The Trump administration is lifting sanctions on Russian oil to counter Iran’s stranglehold on Middle Eastern energy. The U.