One of Turkey’s mid-sized Mediterranean oil terminals – the Dortyol terminal – will no longer accept Russian imports after receiving record volumes last year, amid an increase in sanctions pressure by the United States.

Turkey has become one of the leading importers of Russian crude and fuel since 2022 after the West imposed sanctions on Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine. Russia responded by re-routing oil away from Europe and the U.S. to Asia, Turkey, and Africa.

Global Terminal Services’ (GTS), which operates the terminal in Turkey’s southeastern Hatay province, said it had told its clients it would not accept any products from Russia.

“GTS decided to cut all possible connections to Russian oil and declared accordingly to its customers in late February 2024 that even if there is no breach of any laws, regulations or sanctions, it would not accept any product of Russians origin or any products loaded from Russian ports as an additional measure to the sanction rules in effect,” GTS told Reuters.