French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday (March 13, 2026) said Russia was “mistaken” if it thought the West Asia war would ease pressure on it after Washington partially rolled back sanctions against Moscow to cool oil prices.

His comments came after talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Paris aimed at ramping up pressure on Russia to end its four-year invasion.

“Today Russia may believe that the war in Iran will offer it respite. It is mistaken,” Mr. Macron said.

U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory attacks across the Gulf region have virtually halted transit through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, sending global oil prices spiralling.

Also read: West Asia war updates on March 13, 2026

The United States has temporarily allowed the sale of oil from Russia — one of the world’s largest oil producers and exporters — that is at sea, as oil prices hold above $100 a barrel.

The move has sparked pushback from U.S. allies, including Mr. Macron, who said earlier the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz “in no way” justified lifting the sanctions on Russia.

During a meeting of the Group of Seven countries earlier this week, “we reaffirmed rising oil prices must under no circumstances lead us to reconsider our sanctions policy towards Russia,” Mr. Macron said during Friday’s press conference.

Mr. Macron said he believed the U.S. decision to ease sanctions would be “limited” and would not be a total reversal of the policy.

“The decision taken, on an exceptional and limited basis, by the United States of America… does not constitute a lasting or broad reversal of the sanctions that they themselves decided upon” within the framework of the G7, Mr. Macron said.

Mr. Macron also confirmed that France’s position in the West Asia war remained “purely defensive” despite an Iranian drone having killed a French soldier in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.

The French Military said that drones had on Thursday hit a base where troops were taking part in counter-terrorism training with Iraqi counterparts.

Arnaud Frion, 42, was killed by a Shahed drone strike, according to his commanding officer, in an attack that also left several soldiers wounded.

When asked about the possibility of a retaliatory strike following Frion’s death, Mr. Macron refused to discuss a scenario in which France would carry out a retaliatory strike against Iran, calling it “political fiction”.

“We are not at war with anyone,” Mr. Macron said.

French ​President Emmanuel Macron will convene a call ‌with leaders of the Group ​of Seven on Wednesday (March 11, 2026) to ⁠discuss the Iran crisis and rising energy prices, the French president’s office said. The ‌talks come as G7 governments weigh how to respond ‌to a sharp rise in ‌oil ⁠prices triggered by the ⁠U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

G7 energy ministers stopped short of agreeing on a release of strategic ​oil reserves on ‌Tuesday and instead asked the International Energy Agency to assess the situation before acting.

Benchmark oil prices surged ‌to almost four-year highs on Monday ​but prices plummeted 11% on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald ⁠Trump predicted the war in the Middle East could end soon. U.S. officials ‌are also weighing steps to keep oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, including providing naval escorts for commercial vessels and backstopping war risk insurance for tankers, as ‌Washington seeks to reassure shippers and ​prevent further disruption to global energy supplies.

The G7 comprises the ⁠United States, Canada, Japan, Italy, Britain, Germany ⁠and France.

France is the current G7 chair.

Oil prices rose sharply on Monday (March 2, 2026) as U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and retaliatory strikes against Israel and U.S. military installations around the Gulf sent disruptions through the global energy supply chain.

Traders were betting the supply of oil from Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East would slow or grind to a halt. Attacks throughout the region, including on two vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, have restricted countries’ ability to export oil to the rest of the world. Prolonged attacks would likely result in higher prices for crude oil and gasoline, according to energy experts.

West Texas Intermediate, the light, sweet crude oil produced in the United States, was selling for about $72 a barrel early Monday (March 2), up around 7.3% from its trading price of about $67 on Friday (February 27, 2026), according to data from CME group.

A barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, was trading at $78.55 per barrel early Monday (March 2), according to FactSet, up 7.8% from its trading price of $72.87 on Friday (February 27), which had been a seven-month high at the time.

Higher global energy prices could lead to consumers paying more for gasoline at the pump and shelling out more for groceries and other goods, at a time when many are already feeling the impacts of elevated inflation.

Roughly 15 million barrels of crude oil per day — about 20% of the world’s oil — are shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, making it the world’s most critical oil chokepoint, according to Rystad Energy. Tankers travelling through the strait, which is bordered in the north by Iran, carry oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE and Iran.

Iran had temporarily shut down parts of the strait in mid-February for what it said was a military drill, which led oil prices to jump about 6% higher in the days that followed.

Against that backdrop, eight countries that are part of the OPEC+ oil cartel announced they would boost production of crude on Sunday (March 1). The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, in a meeting planned before the war began, said it would increase production by 206,000 barrels per day in April, which was more than analysts had been expecting. The countries boosting output include Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman.

“Roughly one-fifth of global oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for world trade, meaning markets are more concerned with whether barrels can move than with spare capacity on paper,” said Jorge León, Rystad’s senior vice president and head of geopolitical analysis, in an email.

“If flows through the Gulf are constrained, additional production will provide limited immediate relief, making access to export routes far more important than headline output targets.” Iran exports roughly 1.6 million barrels of oil a day, mostly to China, which may need to look elsewhere for supply if Iran’s exports are disrupted, another factor that could increase energy prices.

Oil prices plunged on Thursday (January 15, 2026) after fears over instability in Iran were eased by comments from U.S. President Donald Trump.

West Texas Intermediate dropped 3.0% to $60.16 per barrel while Brent crude was down 2.93% to $64.57, after Mr. Trump said he had been told the killings of protesters in Iran had been halted.

Also read | Iran protests updates: Trump says has been notified killings in Iran have ‘stopped’

In a surprise announcement at the White House, the U.S. President added that he would “watch it and see” about threatened military action.

“They’ve said the killing has stopped and the executions won’t take place — there were supposed to be a lot of executions today and that the executions won’t take place — and we’re going to find out,” he said.

Mr. Trump had repeatedly talked in recent days about coming to the aid of the Iranian people over a crackdown on protests that rights groups say has left at least 3,428 people dead.

Concern that the situation could restrict supplies of crude had caused oil prices to rise around 1.5% on Wednesday (January 14, 2026).

“Oil prices dropped… on comments from U.S. President Donald Trump that Iran would refrain from any further killing of protesters, watering down fears of a looming supply shock in energy markets,” said Kyle Rodda of Capital.com.

Iran makes up 3% of global oil production, analyst Michael Wan of financial group MUFG noted this week.

Mr. Wan said on Thursday (January 15, 2026) that Mr. Trump’s latest comments “come even as the United States has redeployed some personnel in Qatar and other American bases from ongoing geopolitical tensions and possible Iranian threats to target those locations”.

Oil prices rose approximately 2% after Israeli military carried out a “precise strike” targeting senior leadership of the Hamas in Qatar. Brent crude futures rose 1.97% to $67.32 over its previous close at about 3 p.m. GMT (9 p.m. IST) whilst WTI Crude Futures seeped past the mark and was trading 2.12% high at $63.59.  

The upward rally of oil futures is also being fuelled by members of the OPEC+ agreeing Sunday to increase oil production by a smaller than anticipated 137 thousand barrels per day from the present 1.65 mb/d. S&P Global noted in their recent analysis that several market analysts had expected key producers to hold output flat. 

Israel’s latest strike 

The Israeli Defence Forces and the Israeli Security Forces in a statement confirmed they carried out a “precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas”. They blamed the outfit for the October 7 attacks and for orchestrating recurrent attacks on the West Asian nation.  

In a statement, official spokesperson of the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs Majed Al Ansari condemned the attacks as “cowardly”. “This criminal assault constitutes a blatant violation of all international laws and norms, and poses a serious threat to the security and safety of Qataris and residents in Qatar,” he stated.