Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged on Saturday that a price cap on Russian seaborne oil be set at $30-$40 per barrel, much lower than the level proposed by the G7, Reuters reported.
EU governments are divided over a G7 push that the cap be set at $65-$70 per barrel.
“The limit that is being considered today — about $60 — I think this is an artificial limit,” Zelenskyy told a news conference Saturday, according to Reuters.
“We would like the sanctions to be very effective in this fight, so that the limit is at the level of $30-$40, so Russia feels them,” the news agency quoted the Ukrainian leader as saying.
EU ambassadors have failed to agree on the maximum price at which Russian oil should be allowed to trade. They want to agree on the price-cap plan as soon as possible, as an EU embargo on Russian crude comes into force on December 5.
Poland is one of the countries pushing for a lower level for the price cap. Polish Climate Minister Anna Moskwa told POLITICO earlier this week that the limit “must be as low as possible” and as close to Russia’s production costs “as possible” to ensure Moscow makes minimal profit.
Zelenskyy on Friday referred to the proposal of around $70 a barrel as “more like a concession” to Moscow, as it is well above Russian production costs. “But I’m very grateful to our Baltic and Polish colleagues for their proposals, quite reasonable ones, to set this camp at $30 per barrel. It’s a much better idea,” he was quoted as saying.