The Trump administration is considering lifting sanctions on some so-called shadow fleet vessels that have transported ‌oil and petroleum products from countries including Russia, Iran and Venezuela, in an effort to reduce record-high global freight rates.

Axar.az reports, citing Reuters, the discussions come days after President Donald Trump temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian diesel fuel, a move met with a torrent of criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, European countries and some of Trump's fellow Republicans in the US Senate.

The ​new talks center on the United States potentially allowing "legal oil" to flow on previously sanctioned vessels, the US official said. ⁠That means crude or petroleum products not sanctioned by Washington rather than Russian and Iranian oil, which are under punitive measures.

The goal is to move more refined ​products and crude out of the Gulf, the official said.

Companies seeking to buy the sanctioned vessels would have to apply to the US Treasury Department for approval of ​the transactions, the official said.

A Treasury Department official told Reuters that the agency undertakes a "thorough review before removing sanctions on any entity." If legitimate buyers want to purchase the vessels and restore them for use by global commercial shipping, Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control "may consider authorizing those transactions and removing sanctions on those vessels on a case-by-case basis," the official said.