The European Union (EU) today reached an agreement on a price cap for Russian oil products, in another tacit gesture of support for Ukraine.
“The EU ambassadors approved today the cap on the price of Russian oil products before a final adoption by the European Council,” the Swedish leaders of the negotiations wrote on the Twitter account. Sweden holds the bloc’s six-month presidency.
It is an “important agreement that is part of the continued response of the European Union and its partners to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.”
It is the latest in a series of international measures to limit Russia’s export revenue, in response to Moscow’s offensive against Ukraine nearly a year ago.
In December, the EU imposed an embargo on Russian seaborne crude, plus a cap on the price of Russian oil, at $60 a barrel.
This second EU embargo, which will affect Russian refined oil products such as petroleum, diesel and heating oil, will take effect on Sunday.
Swedish Presidency of The EU
The Swedish presidency of the EU affirmed that the caps on the prices agreed by the countries of the bloc represent an “important agreement in the framework of the continued response of the EU and its partners to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”
It did not detail the caps that will be applied to the prices of each product, reported the AFP and Sputnik agencies.
The countries of the EU examined the proposals of the European Commission (the executive body of the block), to set a limit of 100 dollars a barrel for the most expensive products, such as diesel, and 45 dollars a barrel for cheaper products such as the fuel oil.
The Kremlin warned today that this embargo on Russian oil products will be a “negative” measure that will “further unbalance” the energy market.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov warned that Russia “is taking steps to hedge [its] interests against emerging risks.”
The calculation of the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, gives that the limitation of the price of Russian oil for export already costs Moscow about 174 million dollars a day.
Russia banned from the 1st of this month oil exports to countries that adopt the price cap.
This article is originally published on grupolaprovincia.com
