NEW YORK, June 26. /TASS/. US President Joe Biden continues to try to find a delicate balance with the sanctions policy against Russian and Iranian crude producers as he tries to keep global oil prices from spiking, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing sources.

"The president (Biden - TASS) has wanted to do everything that he could to make sure that American consumers have the lowest price possible at the pump, as it affects families’ daily lives," the newspaper quoted a senior US official as saying. Washington and its allies have been "very, very careful not to go too far and damage the ability of Western economies to function," John Smith, former head of the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. told the WSJ.

The West imposed sanctions on Russian oil on December 5, 2022. Since then, Russian seaborne crude exports to European countries have ceased, as the European Union imposed a $60 per barrel oil price cap jointly with the G7 and Australia, banning their insurance and shipping firms from facilitating the shipment of Russian oil sold above the capped price.