Russia “will not accept” a price cap on its oil and is considering how to respond, the Kremlin said in response to an agreement by Western powers.
Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov said Moscow had prepared for Friday’s price cap announcement by the Group of Seven (G7), the European Union and Australia, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
“We will not accept this cap,” the RIA news agency said. Russia would carry out a quick analysis of the agreement and respond later.
Russia has repeatedly said that it will not supply oil to countries that apply the cap, a position reaffirmed by Mikhail Ulyanov, Moscow’s ambassador to international organizations in Vienna. “Starting this year, Europe will live without Russian oil,” he said.
The G7 price cap will allow non-EU countries to continue importing Russian crude by sea, but will ban shipping and insurance companies from handling cargoes of Russian crude around the world unless it sells for less. of 60 dollars.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the cap will especially benefit low- and middle-income countries that have been hit hard by high energy and food prices.
“With Russia’s economy already in contraction and its budget tightening, the price cap will immediately cut Putin’s most important source of income,” Yellen said in a statement.
The Russian embassy in the United States criticized what it called a “dangerous Western move” and said Moscow would continue to look for buyers for its oil.
“Steps like these will inevitably result in increased uncertainty and the imposition of higher costs for consumers of raw materials. We are confident that Russian oil will continue to be in demand,” he said.
