3″ December “2022 Aljazeera
Russia has rejected a $60 price cap on its oil set by Ukraine’s Western allies and warned of a response as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was “quite comfortable” for Moscow amid a push from Kyiv for a lower cap.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday that Russia would not accept the price ceiling, adding that it needed to analyse the situation before deciding on a specific response
Russia ‘will not accept’ oil price cap
- All EU governments have completed the written approval of the $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne oil, the European Commission has said.
- Russia “will not accept” a price cap after G7 nations, Australia and the European Union agreed to cap the price of Russian seaborne oil at $60 a barrel.
Price cap level on Russian oil ‘not serious’: Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that the $60 price cap set on Russian oil agreed by the EU, G7 and Australia is not “serious” because it is “quite comfortable” for Moscow.
It is “only a matter of time when stronger tools will have to be used anyway”, Zelenskyy argued, adding, “It is a pity that this time will be lost.”
Zelenskyy said the world had shown weakness by setting the cap at $60, which he said would swell Russia’s budget by $100bn a year.
“This money will … go towards further destabilisation of precisely those countries that are now trying to avoid serious decisions,” he said.
Russia pledges to sell oil despite ‘dangerous’ price cap
Calling the price cap plan “a dangerous attempt by Western governments”, Russia says that it will not affect the demand for Russian oil.
Moscow has added that it will continue to find alternative buyers.
Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands in Kyiv has more on the latest developments:
EU governments complete approval of Russian oil price cap
All European Union governments have completed the written approval of a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne oil, the European Commission has said, paving the way for its publication in the EU’s Official Journal and entry into force on December 5.
“The G7 and all EU Member States have taken a decision that will hit Russia’s revenues even harder and reduce its ability to wage war in Ukraine,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.
“It will also help us to stabilise global energy prices, benefiting countries across the world who are currently confronted with high oil prices,” she said.
Europe must address Putin’s ‘fear’ over security for peace talks: Macron
French President Emmanuel Macron has suggested that the West should consider how to address Russia’s security concerns if President Putin agrees to negotiations over the war in Ukraine.
In an interview with French TV station TF1, recorded during Macron’s state visit to the US last week, he said Europe needs to prepare its future security architecture.
“This means that one of the essential points we must address – as President Putin has always said – is the fear that NATO comes right up to its doors and the deployment of weapons that could threaten Russia,” Macron said.
“That topic will be part of the topics for peace, so we need to prepare what we are ready to do, how we protect our allies and member states, and how to give guarantees to Russia the day it returns to the negotiating table,” Macron said.
壯陽藥But many in Ukraine and the West are strongly opposed to any negotiation with Putin that would reward him with concessions
Russia, Belarus defence ministers discuss bilateral military cooperation
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has held talks with his Belarusian counterpart, Viktor Khrenin, the state-run Belta news agency said.
The news agency reported that both sides discussed bilateral military cooperation and amended an agreement on the “joint provision of regional security”.
Russia and Belarus are formally part of a “union state” and are closely allied economically and militarily, with Moscow using Belarus as a staging post for its invasion of Ukraine.
Although Belarus has said it will not enter the war in Ukraine, President Alexander Lukashenko has in the past ordered troops to deploy with Russian forces near the Ukrainian border citing threats to Belarus from Kyiv and the West.
Putin will visit east Ukraine ‘in due time’, Kremlin spokesman says
Russian President Vladimir Putin will “in due time” visit the annexed Donbas region in east Ukraine, the Kremlin told Russian news agencies.
“In due time this will happen, of course. This is a region of the Russian Federation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, without indicating when this could happen.
In late September, Putin formally annexed Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions that were partially occupied by Russian forces in east Ukraine.
UK arrests ‘Russian businessman’ over alleged money laundering
The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has arrested a “wealthy Russian businessman” on suspicion of money laundering and other offences.
The unidentified 58-year-old was detained with two other men on Thursday by officers from the Combatting Kleptocracy Cell (CKC) at a “multimillion-pound residence” in London, the NCA said.
He was arrested on suspicion of money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the Home Office and conspiracy to commit perjury, it said.
All three have been released on police bail.
NCA Director General Graeme Biggar said the CKC was having a significant effect on oligarchs’ criminal activity, the professional service providers that supported them and those linked to the Russian government.
The UK has so far sanctioned more than 1,200 individuals and more than 120 entities since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February.
