Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky has criticized the oil price cap for Russian oil set by Western allies, calling it insufficient, the BBC writes.
On Friday, 2nd of December, G7 approved the price cap for Russian oil as 60 dollars per barrel. Russia has announced that it will not accept this restriction on its oil exports. The price cap comes into effect on the 5th of December, and it is an addition to other western sanctions against Russia.
Zelensky stated that the price cap is too small and will not cause problems for the Russian economy. He said: «Russia has already caused huge losses to all countries of the world by deliberately destabilizing the energy market.» He added that stricter measures are only a matter of time.
The establishment of the price cap was instigated already in September when the G7 group (USA, Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the European Union) decided that it should reduce Russia’s ability to finance the war in Ukraine. Kremlin representative Dmitry Peskov said, that Moscow was ready for this step but would not accept such terms. While Russia is likely to feel the impact of the sanctions, it will be partially mitigated by oil sales in other markets, such as India and China.
Countries that have agreed to the G7 decision will be allowed to buy Russian oil and oil products only at a price equal to or lower than the established price cap.
The decision on the price cap was taken just a few days before the ban on Russian crude oil ships to sail into European Union comes into force. The price cap, however, will be effective in the whole world.
Before Russia invaded Ukraine, more than half of Russia’s oil was exported to Europe. The largest buyer of this oil was Germany, followed by the Netherlands and Poland. Since February, European countries have been trying to reduce their dependence on Russian resources.
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