According to Politico, which cited anonymous officials, the Group of Seven (G7) leading Western countries decided to cap the price of Russian oil exports on Tuesday.
This year’s summit of the rich democracies was held in a castle resort in the Bavarian Alps, and it was overshadowed by the crisis in Ukraine and its dramatic economic repercussions, particularly the skyrocketing food and energy inflation.
The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasised that sanctions against Russia will continue until Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted defeat in the Ukraine. An oil price cap would increase this pressure from the West on Russia.
The agreement’s specifics have not been made public. The US reportedly offered easing sanctions on insurance for ships that transport Russian oil only if nations agreed to buy it at an agreed-upon maximum price, enforcing a price cap. RT stated that the US position was that this was not the case.
The global oil price ceiling idea put out by French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday was also rejected by G7 members. According to reports, the US, Germany, and France all agreed to drop the idea. The accord comes as Western nations struggle to control inflation and rising energy costs as a result of their sanctions and oil embargoes on Russia.
Despite the fact that the sanctions are intended to drain the “Russian war chest” that is purportedly being used to finance the ongoing military action in Ukraine, RT claimed that Moscow has been making more money from its energy exports than it did before the sanctions because of higher pricing.
The G7 took up the issue of a price cap after it was initially proposed by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen earlier this year. The G7 has apparently been holding “productive” discussions on the topic over the past three days, at its annual meeting in Germany.
