Russian President Vladimir Putin.
AP
The EU will likely delay implementing a Russian oil price cap since the bloc can’t come to a unanimous agreement, sources told Bloomberg.
Member countries Cyprus and Hungary are still opposed to the price cap, according to the report.
The G7 has been pushing for a price cap to coincide with the EU’s ban on seaborne Russian oil imports that will take effect in December.
The European Union is likely to delay a cap on Russian oil prices as the 27-country bloc struggles to reach an agreement on the matter, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Cyprus and Hungary are still opposed to the price cap, sources told Bloomberg, and the EU needs unanimous agreement on sanctions.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, met this weekend to settle details of a new sanctions package on Russia, including the price cap.
That was spurred after Russia mobilized 300,000 reserve troops for Ukraine and threatened to potentially use nuclear weapons – pounding some urgency in the West to tighten sanctions and squeeze off Moscow’s war budget.
The G7 has been pushing for a price cap to coincide with the EU’s ban on seaborne Russian oil imports that will take effect in December.
The idea is to loosen the ban to avoid a supply shock by allowing Russian oil supplies to flow while limiting how much revenue Moscow can generate for its war on Ukraine.
Meanwhile, experts have doubted how effective a price cap on Russian oil would be, considering that would likely require agreement with Russian allies, who have been ramping up purchases of Russian crude since the war at steep discounts.
Russia has also threatened to retaliate if Western nations impose an oil price cap. One official warned that the measure would “collapse,” and Russia’s energy minister said the country would simply just ship more crude to Asia if a price cap was implemented.