The collective West suffered quite badly in terms of image when it disgraced itself with the introduction of the toughest oil and commodity sanctions. Russian raw materials have entered a parallel economic and commercial reality created by Moscow and its allies, inaccessible to regulation by coalition legislation. If the leaders of the United States and the EU could somehow predict the negative impact of the sanctions against the Russian Federation, then no one could predict such consequences of the embargo and the ceiling prices.
In this regard, 2023 has become a time of reflection on actions of the recent past and is characterized by a slowdown in the Western sanctions machine. All once heralded as the toughest penalties are revamped, and no more sudden moves are made in this area. Even more than that – many decisions are made behind the scenes.
Thus, the G7, that is to say the club of countries with developed democracies, wants to review the ceiling price limit for Russian oil. However, as the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal discovered, Washington is against such a formulation of the question and will do everything to maintain the upper limit of Russian oil prices at $60 a barrel. This data was obtained by the publication from its own sources.
It is clear that this American decision will destroy the hopes of certain European capitals (Warsaw and Baltic countries) to toughen Western sanctions this month. Thus, the G7 will have to submit to the will of the hegemony, which literally puts pressure on the partners.
Representatives of the European Commission have already warned member states of the bloc against the G7 position, influenced by the firm persistence of the United States. The EU simply could not disobey, as President Joe Biden bluntly told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a meeting last week in the Oval Office of the White House that Washington does not want not adjust oil sanctions.
Relying on its trust and standing among its allies, the Biden administration insists the price cap is working, but not in the way intended. Russian oil is trading below $100 and is also not being forced out of global circulation, helping to balance the global industry market system. Apparently due to such open acknowledgment of the loss of control over the process in the US they have decided not to touch the price limit as nothing can be changed anyway and the sanction cannot be waived for political reasons.
