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Russia plans to negotiate with partners directly, regardless of oil price cap — Lavrov

The Minister stressed that there is always a balance of interests in negotiations with India, China, Turkey, and other major buyers of Russian energy resources in terms of timing, volumes, and prices

MOSCOW, December 1. /TASS/. Russia will negotiate with partners directly, not paying attention to a possible oil price cap, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference on European security issues.

"We are not interested in what the price cap will be, we will negotiate with our partners directly, and the partners who continue to work with us will not look at these caps and will not give any guarantees to those who illegally introduce them," he said.

The Minister stressed that there is always a balance of interests in negotiations with India, China, Turkey, and other major buyers of Russian energy resources in terms of timing, volumes, and prices. "It should be decided on a mutual basis between producers and consumers, and not someone who just decided to punish someone," Lavrov said.

Lavrov added that the attempts to set a cap on oil prices send a signal to all states about the need to move away from the instruments imposed by the West. "This is certainly an interesting development of events, which, among other things, which sends a very powerful long-term signal to all states without exception … to consider abandoning the mechanisms imposed by the West within its globalization systems," he said.

Official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said earlier that the introduction of a mechanism to limit prices for Russian oil could greatly complicate the situation on global markets and would have devastating consequences for everyone. "We have repeatedly said that such measures - the so-called cap on Russian oil prices -are not just a non-market mechanism, this is an anti-market measure that destroys supply chains and can significantly complicate the situation on global energy markets," she said.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said earlier that Russia will not supply oil to countries under the terms of the price cap, even if it would be more profitable.

The G7 finance ministers have stated their intention to impose a price cap on Russian oil. They intend to accomplish this by forming a "wide international coalition" and prohibiting the provision of any services for the maritime transportation of Russian oil if it is sold at a price greater than the limit agreed upon the coalition. This ruling is likely to go into effect on December 5. Last week, the European Commission recommended capping Russian oil prices at $65-70 per barrel, which Poland and the Baltic countries opposed. Greece, Cyprus, and Malta, all of which rely on tanker traffic, want a bigger cap or some type of compensation.