Monitoring Desk
BRUSSELS: The European Union (EU) on Friday reached an agreement on price caps for Russian oil products ahead of the international embargo set to be enforced over the weekend, Sweden said.
“EU ambassadors today agreed to the price caps on Russian petroleum products ahead of final adoption by the European Council,” tweeted Swedish officials. Sweden currently holds the rotating EU presidency.
The move is the latest part of the international efforts to limit Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war chest for his invasion of Ukraine by targeting his key exports.
In December, the bloc imposed an embargo on Russian oil coming in by sea and — in collaboration with its G7 partners — set a $60-dollar-per-barrel cap for exports worldwide.
The second EU-wide embargo on Russian oil is set to come into force on Sunday. The latest sanctions target Russian refined oil products, such as heating fuel, petrol, and diesel, arriving on ships.
EU and G7 agree to price cap on Russian shipments
Meanwhile, the EU and the G7 group of wealthy countries have also agreed to impose a price cap on Russia’s shipments of those products to global markets.
The Swedish European Union presidency said the price caps of Russian oil agreed by EU members was a crucial agreement as part of the continued response by the bloc and partners to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.”
Diplomats said the Baltic states and Poland – which had resorted to the most hawkish stance in the European Union on Russia sanctions – pushed the price to be lowered to further curb Russia’s income.
The Kremlin lashed out at the European Union ahead of the embargo, insisting it would “lead to a further imbalance of the global energy markets.”
“We are taking measures to safeguard our interests against the risks associated,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
On Thursday, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen estimated during a visit to Kyiv that the existing price cap on Russian oil was already costing Moscow around 160 million euros ($175 million) every day.
