Brent crude futures rose about 2% to above $97 per barrel on Tuesday, scaling fresh 7-year highs after Russian president Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine and later ordered forces into the area. US president Joe Biden responded by ordering sanctions on the two separatist regions, with the European Union vowing to take additional measures.
It was not clear whether the Russian move into those regions, which Moscow called peacekeeping operations, was the start of an invasion that the West had warned about for weeks. Meanwhile, investors continued to monitor efforts to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement after a senior European Union official said Friday a deal was “very very close.” Analysts suggested that a potential deal could add more than 1 million barrels a day of Iranian crude to the market.