KYIV —
Russia on Saturday rejected a $60 price cap on its oil agreed by the EU,
G7,
and Australia, which Ukraine said would contribute to the destruction of
Russia’s economy.
اضافة اعلان
“We will not
accept this price cap,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told domestic news
agencies, adding that Russia, the world’s second largest crude exporter, was
“analyzing” the move.
The $60 oil
price cap will come into effect on Monday or soon after, alongside an EU
embargo on maritime deliveries of Russian crude oil.
The embargo will
prevent seaborne shipments of Russian crude to the
EU, which account for two
thirds of the bloc’s oil imports, potentially depriving Russia’s war chest of
billions of euros.
Kyiv welcomed
the price cap, which stops countries paying more than $60 a barrel for Russian
oil deliveries by tanker vessel and is designed to make it harder for Russia to
bypass EU sanctions by selling beyond the EU at market prices.
“We always
achieve our goal and the economy of Russia will be destroyed, and Russia itself
will pay and be responsible for all crimes,”
Ukraine’s presidential chief of
staff Andriy Yermak said on Saturday.
The Kremlin also
said Russian President Vladimir Putin would “in due time” visit the Donbas
region of eastern Ukraine, which he claims to have annexed. But Peskov gave no
indication of when this could happen.
Limit funds for the ‘war machine’
Poland had earlier refused
to back the price cap over concerns the $60 ceiling was too high but confirmed
its agreement on Friday evening.
Yermak noted a cap of “$30 would have destroyed it
(the Russian economy) more quickly”.
The market price of a barrel of Russian Urals crude
is currently around $65 dollars, just slightly higher than the $60 cap,
indicating the measure may have only a limited impact in the short term.
The G7 said it was delivering on its vow “to prevent
Russia from profiting from its war of aggression against
Ukraine, to support
stability in global energy markets, and to minimize negative economic
spillovers of Russia’s war of aggression”.
The White House described the cap as “welcome news”
that would help limit Putin’s ability to fund the Kremlin’s “war machine”.
Russia has threatened not to deliver to countries
that adopted the measure.
The G7 and Australia said they were prepared to
adjust the price ceiling if necessary.
Russia has earned
67 billion euros from the sale of oil to the EU since the start of the war in
February.
Its annual military budget amounts to around 60
billion, noted Phuc-Vinh Nguyen, an energy expert at the Institut
Jacques-Delors in Paris.
The EU embargo on seaborne deliveries follows a
decision by Germany and Poland to stop taking Russian oil via pipeline by the
end of 2022.
In all, more than 90 percent of Russian deliveries
to the EU will be affected, according to the bloc.
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