In the evening Slovakia withdrawn its veto. Introduced the (umpteenth) new penalties, as well as a new Price Cap on Russian oil.
After weeks of negotiations, the European Union countries have reached an agreement on 18th pack of penalties to Russia. Last night, in fact, the Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico He announced that he would remove the veto of his country from the new package. “Rejecting the penalties further would damage Slovakia,” wrote the premier on his official Facebook channel.
Bratislava required more guarantees regarding the Russian energy sector, in particular as regards the Brussels plan for The gradual elimination of Russian gas By 2027
“The European Union has just approved one of the packets of stronger penalties against RussiaHe announced, without irony, the capable of EU diplomacy, Kaja Kallasaccording to which “we are further cutting the Kremlin’s war budget, sanctioning 105 other ships of the shadow fleet and their shipowners, limiting the access of Russian banks to funding”.
Space also for the new Price cap on Russian oil, or that measure that It imposes a maximum roof at the purchase price of Moscow crude oil. In the specific case, the new measure approved by the Union will strengthen the Price cap Already in force (which limits the price for the purchase of Russian crude oil to 60 dollars).
The new restriction will establish a price of 15% lower than the average of the Russian crude oil market, which currently wanders over 64 dollars per barrel. This restriction is naturally valid only for countries belonging to the initiative, i.e. the EU and G7 countriesin addition to the relative merchant fleets and western operators.
A new ban on transactions relating to North Stream 1 and 2with the aim of preventing their possible remittance in operation, as well as on the import of refined oil products deriving from Russian crude oil, even if worked in third countries (except for Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Switzerland).
This measure has the aim of closing a gap that allowed Russia to export indirectly crude oil intended for refining. Also in this case, the measure applies to adhering countries only.
After the approval of the new package of sanctions, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der leyenhe was able to cheer: «I welcome the agreement on our 18th pack of penalties against Russia. We are hitting the heart of the Moscow war machine, hitting its banking, energy and military-industrial sectors. The pressure is high. And it will continue until Putin will end this war».
Who knows, maybe for Europe the 18th time will be the good one. Of course, in the various attempts carried out, it could be incurred in some “collateral damage“, For example, the German recession, the economic stagnation of many European countries (Italy included), and having aggravated the deindustrialization process of the continent. However, for the moment, it seems to be very of very little interested.
