MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia “will not accept” a price cap on its oil and is analyzing how to respond, the Kremlin said in comments reported on Saturday, in response to a deal by Western powers aimed at limiting a key source of funding the war in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had made preparations for Friday’s price cap announcement by the Group of Seven nations, the European Union and Australia, the Russian state news agency TASS reported.
“We will not accept this cap,” RIA news agency quoted him as saying. He added that Russia would conduct a rapid analysis of the agreement and respond after that, RIA reported.
Russia has repeatedly said it will not supply oil to countries that implement the cap - a stance reaffirmed by Mikhail Ulyanov, Moscow’s ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, in posts on social media on Saturday.
“Starting from this year Europe will live without Russian oil,” he said.
The G7 price cap will allow non-EU countries to continue importing seaborne Russian crude oil, but it will prohibit shipping, insurance and re-insurance companies from handling cargoes of Russian crude around the globe, unless it is sold for less than $60. That could complicate the shipment of Russian crude priced above the cap, even to countries which are not part of the agreement.
Russian Urals crude traded at around $67 a barrel on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin said on Friday after Joe Biden suggested he was prepared to speak to the Russian leader that Putin is open to talks on a possible settlement to the conflict in Ukraine and believes in a diplomatic solution.
Biden, speaking beside French President Emmanuel Macron, said the only way to end the war in Ukraine was for Putin to pull troops out and that if Putin was looking to end the conflict then Biden would be prepared to speak to him.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov struck a dovish tone when asked about Biden’s remarks, saying that Putin remained open to negotiations but that Russia would not pull out of Ukraine.
“The president of the Russian Federation has always been, is and remains open to negotiations in order to ensure our interests,” Peskov told reporters.
Putin has said he has no regrets about launching Russia’s “special military operation” against Ukraine, casting it as a watershed moment when Russia finally stood up to arrogant Western hegemony.