Daniel Fried
Former US State Department sanctions coordinator, now Atlantic Council senior fellow on Russia policy.
Last refreshed: 30 April 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
If GL 134A is extended at $115 Urals, is the US price cap still a sanctions policy or a formality?
Timeline for Daniel Fried
Mentioned in: First Iran-free OFAC day of the war
Iran Conflict 2026GL 134A lapses toward quiet extension
Russia-Ukraine War 2026- Should the US extend the Russian oil sanctions waiver GL 134A?
- Atlantic Council senior fellow Daniel Fried argued on 8 April 2026 that at $114-116 Urals the waiver delivers $150 million a day to Russian budget revenues and should be allowed to lapse in favour of the price cap. Treasury stayed silent and an extension appeared likely.Source: Atlantic Council
- What is General License 134A and why does it matter?
- GL-134A was an OFAC waiver permitting continued US-connected transactions with Russian seaborne crude to avoid an oil-market spike. It expired 16 April 2026; Treasury replaced it with GL-134B on 19 April, the same day Iran's GL-U waiver was allowed to lapse.Source: OFAC
- Should the US extend the Russian oil sanctions waiver GL-134A?
- Daniel Fried argued publicly on 8 April 2026 that extending GL-134A for Russia while letting GL-U for Iran lapse would create a damaging double standard. Treasury ultimately signed GL-134B extending Russia's waiver on the same day Iran's GL-U lapsed.Source: Atlantic Council
- Who is Daniel Fried and what is his role in Iran sanctions policy?
- Daniel Fried is a former US State Department coordinator for sanctions policy and current Atlantic Council senior fellow. He called publicly on Treasury to treat Russia and Iran consistently, warning that extending Russia's oil waiver while tightening Iran's sent conflicting strategic signals.Source: Atlantic Council
- Why did OFAC treat Russia differently from Iran in April 2026?
- OFAC extended Russia's seaborne crude waiver (GL-134B) on 19 April while simultaneously letting Iran's crude transit waiver (GL-U) expire, the first Russia-yes Iran-no asymmetry in signed US policy text during the conflict. Critics including Daniel Fried warned this undermined the sanctions architecture.Source: OFAC
Background
Daniel Fried, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and former US State Department coordinator for sanctions policy, called publicly on 8 April 2026 for Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to let General License 134A lapse on expiry rather than extend it, and fall back on the price cap as the operative mechanism. Bloomberg, Reuters and Semafor reported instead that an extension was coming, citing sources familiar with Treasury's position.
Fried's argument centres on the changed market context. The original GL 134 was issued in March when Urals Crude was trading around $73 a barrel as a market stabilisation measure following the Strait of Hormuz closure. At the April publication date, Urals was trading at $114 to $116, a level Bloomberg estimates generates roughly $150 million a day in additional Russian budget revenue above what the price cap would allow. His position is that the instrument has ceased to serve its original purpose and is now directly contradicting the sanctions architecture it was meant to complement.
Fried's voice carries weight because he helped build the current US sanctions toolkit from inside government. A career Foreign Service officer who served as Ambassador to Poland and Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, he was State's coordinator for sanctions policy from 2013 to 2017 and ran the interagency response to Russia's 2014 Crimea annexation. His Atlantic Council work now focuses on enforcement gaps and the trade-off between energy market stability and economic pressure on Moscow. His 8 April call went publicly unanswered by Treasury.
