Ministers of Estonia, Lithuania, Poland highlight importance of price cap on Russian oil

TALLINN - The ministers of European Affairs of Estonia, Lithuania and Poland made a joint statement on Saturday welcoming a price cap agreement geared at reducing Russia's oil revenues while mitigating the adverse consequences of the price cap on the supply of energy to third states.

The statement was signed from Estonia's side by Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Reinsalu.

The initial price cap of 60 US dollars per barrel is the result of long negotiations within G7 and the European Union. The price cap will ensure the efficiency of the sanctions established against Russia.

"We have made every effort to ensure that the main goal of the oil price gap, which is to limit Russian oil revenues, is achieved," the three countries' ministers said in their joint statement.

"The oil price cap, introduced on our proposal, will be reviewed in every two months to respond to developments in the market and to guarantee that the price cap will be at least 5 percent below the average market price for Russian oil. We highlight that we will work further to completely stop Russia's profit from oil sales.

The oil price cap is just one element of the response to Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

"We need to continue providing our support to Ukraine by cutting off Russia's ability to finance the war, including taking into use Russian frozen assets and imposing effective sanctions. We welcome President von der Leyen's statement that the European Union is working with full speed on the next package of sanctions against Russia. We reiterate the importance of the swift adaptation of the ninth sanction package," they said.