EU countries call to speed up 9th package of sanctions against Russia
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The foreign ministers of Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland welcome "the agreement on the Oil Price Cap whose objective is to limit Russian oil revenues, while mitigating adverse consequences on energy supply to third countries."
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Russian fertilizer destined for crisis-stricken countries has been hanging in EU ports for months amid sanction-related issues.
The Foreign Ministers of Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland welcomed on Saturday the oil price cap on Russian crude and called on the EU to hasten the process for the 9th round of sanctions against Russia, the Foreign Minister of Estonia Urmas Reinsalu said in a tweet on Saturday.
In a joint statement to the EU, the ministers said they welcome "the agreement on the Oil Price Cap whose objective is to limit Russian oil revenues, while mitigating adverse consequences on energy supply to third countries."
The statement adds, "The Oil Price Cap is just one element of our response to the aggression against Ukraine. We need to continue to provide our support to Ukraine by cutting off Russia's ability to finance the war, including taking into use Russian frozen assets and imposing effective sanctions."
Together with @SzSz_velSek 🇵🇱 and @Jovita_Pra 🇱🇹 we released a joint statement to address the agreement on the Oil Price Cap.
— Urmas Reinsalu (@UrmasReinsalu) December 3, 2022
We need to continue provide our support to Ukraine by cutting off Russia's ability to finance this war. pic.twitter.com/S9qnmikmBm
The ministers further said they welcomed EU President Ursula von Der Leyen's statement that the EU was expeditiously working on the next round of sanctions against Russia.
They hailed the agreement on the price cap on the basis that it is supposed to limit Russian oil revenues and mitigate adverse consequences on energy supply to third economies.
The statement further says that the oil price cap of $60 per barrel which was agreed upon on Saturday "will ensure the effectiveness of sanctions imposed on Russian oil" and that the cap will be reviewed "every 2 months to respond to developments in the market and to guarantee that the price cap will be at least 5% below the average market price for Russian oil."
The European Union reached an agreement on setting a price cap on Russian oil at $60 a barrel, keeping a review mechanism to keep the price cap at 5% under market value.
Baltic nations have previously expressed opposition to the idea that a price cap should be set above $50 per barrel.
They believe that the price remains too high and that could potentially fuel profits for Russia, thus harming Ukraine.
But the agreement reached on December 3 signified that important concessions were made - particularly in light of the reviewing mechanism which will be set in place.
On Saturday, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Preskov said the price cap that was imposed on Russian oil abroad is unacceptable for Russia, but Moscow will be analyzing it and deciding how to operate under the new circumstances.
Read more: Ships with Russian oil above price cap to have insurance barred in EU
