On Tuesday night, Oct. 4, EU ambassadors “reached a political agreement on the bloc’s new round of Russia sanctions, including an oil price cap, which earlier had been opposed by a few seafaring member states,” Euractiv reports. The sanctions “would add a ban on shipping Russian oil but will include an exemption for oil priced at or under a level set by G7 states,” according to the report.
The packet of sanctions specifically elaborates on the legal reasons for the russian oil price cap.
According to Politico, “Since the invasion began in February, the Kremlin’s war chest has swelled from tens of billions of euros of fossil fuel sales to Europe, though EU governments have stepped up efforts to move away from Russian energy…For European leaders, the task has been to find new ways to target Moscow’s income from energy while avoiding the risk of shortages, soaring prices, and potential blackouts at home this winter.”
The most recent sanctions package expands on existing penalties for the terrorist state, which include a ban on the majority of russian crude oil imports set to commence in December. Gas supplies from Russia to Europe have been seriously hampered, first by putin’s power struggles and subsequently by the sabotage of two undersea Nord Stream pipelines. Coal imports have already been reduced significantly.
Photo: TSN
