EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday, July 15th, she hoped for agreement soon on a new round of sanctions by the bloc on Russia, including lowering a price cap on Moscow’s oil exports.
The fresh round of punishment over the war on Ukraine has been held up for weeks by a wrangle with Slovakia over separate plans to phase out Russian gas imports and resistance from Malta over the price cap.
“We are hoping that it’s either today or tomorrow that we adopt the 18th package of sanctions,” Kallas said ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
Slovakia’s leader, Robert Fico, has signalled he could drop his opposition after talks with Brussels over its plans to cut off Russian gas imports by the end of 2027.
Officials said the bloc is also close to agreeing on a plan to lower its price cap on Russian oil exported to third countries around the world.
The cap is a G7 initiative aimed at limiting the amount of money Russia makes by exporting oil to countries across the world.
The oil price cap, set at $60 by the G7 in 2022, is designed to limit the price Moscow can sell oil around the world by banning shipping firms and insurance companies from dealing with Russia to export above that amount.
Under the new EU scheme—which would likely also have the backing of G7 allies like Britain and Canada—the bloc would set a new flexible rate below market value. That would currently equate to $47.6, according to internal EU discussions shared with AFP.
Diplomats admit that the fact that the United States is not on board with the move will make it less effective.
