G7 leaders dodge decision on imposing price cap on Russian oil – By Patrick Wintour (The Guardian) / Oct 11, 2022
Promised plan still mired in debates over feasibility and wisdom, with Germany fearing further Russian energy cuts in response
G7 leaders appeared to sidestep imposing a price cap on Russian oil within weeks to strip Russia of its largest source of income to finance its war effort in Ukraine.
The leaders of the world’s leading western economies have promised a cap before, most recently at a meeting of G7 finance ministers on 2 September, with the plan pencilled to come into force on 5 December.
But the latest G7 statement made only the most passing general comment about “continuing to cooperate to ensure energy security and affordability across the G7 and beyond”. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, had urged the meeting to impose a tough price cap calling for “zero profit for the terrorist state”.
The G7’s terse reference reflects doubts inside the EU, principally Germany, about the wisdom of the scheme, and how it could work alongside a still to be agreed EU scheme to impose a gas price cap. There has been concern that Russia would ban all energy exports to any country implementing the price cap, forcing oil prices higher, and putting a heavier Russian squeeze on Europe to reduce its support for Ukraine’s war aims.
