BRUSSELS, April 9. /TASS/. The European Union is having a hard time negotiating the 14th package of sanctions against Russia - most likely, it will not contain new restrictions, but only attempts to counter Russian measures to overcome the sanctions blockade, Executive Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis said.
Dombrovskis once again confirmed statements made earlier by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, that the EC began developing the 14th package of sanctions against Russia in February, immediately after the adoption of the 13th package. "However, the available space for taking new measures is becoming more limited. We see that discussions among EU Members States are becoming more difficult,"
"We have started preparing a 14th sanctions package, which should be adopted in spring. It is likely to include an extensive list of restrictive measures with a strong anti-circumvention angle - in the maritime sector, for example, as Russia continues to try and violate the price cap for its oil exports," he said.
The EU countries, the Group of Seven (G7), and Australia, on December 5, 2022, together with the embargo, set a price cap on Russian oil at $60 per barrel, prohibiting their subordinate ships and territories from transporting by sea and insuring oil sold above this level. From February 5, 2023, similar restrictions began to apply to the supply of oil products from Russia, with their maximum price set at $100 and $45 per barrel, depending on the category. Russia, in turn, stated that it does not recognize the conditions of the price cap, and that its companies will not supply oil to countries under this mechanism.
Meanwhile, based on the results of 2023, the majority of both Russian and world experts came to the conclusion that the price cap does not work. According to the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, the average price for Urals oil in February was $69 per barrel.