The EU will not reduce the price ceiling on Russian oil: the explanation is cynical
18 June 2025 12:44
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has actually abandoned the proposal to reduce the price ceiling for Russian oil. This measure was supposed to be one of the key ones in the future package of EU anti-Russian sanctions, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports citing Bloomberg.
As a reminder, the EU’s current oil sanctions against Russia consist of a so-called “price ceiling” of $60 for Russian oil – EU members cannot buy Russian crude at higher prices. This is believed to be a major blow to Russian budget revenues.
However, in order to increase pressure on Russia against the backdrop of the US demarche, it was planned to reduce the price cap to $45 per barrel. However, the EU has now abandoned this step. The explanation for this was ingenious – this step would be unnecessary, as oil prices have already soared above $60.
“In recent days, we have seen that the price has risen, so the oil price ceiling is fulfilling its function. There is not much pressure to lower the oil price ceiling at the moment,”
– von der Leyen said on the sidelines of the G-7 summit, where the proposal was discussed.
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How the EU is helping Ukraine
At the Munich Security Conference, the United States made it clear to the European Union that Europe’s security is its own problem. After that, the rhetoric of European officials for several days was filled with loud statements that it was time for Europe to wake up and finally start taking care of its own security.
In the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war, European leaders were racing to generate ideas about how they would support Ukraine and how they would help it achieve a just peace. They talked about peacekeepers (who would be in the rear), about closing the skies over Ukraine with British aircraft, about Taurus missiles, and even about the fact that a significant part of the planned 800 billion-dollar EU defense package would go to Ukraine.
A common position on peacekeepers was not reached, talks about Taurus missiles stopped, and meanwhile the EU is making decisions and taking actions that can hardly be called helping Ukraine defend Europe.
Just a few days after the Munich conference, it turned out that Belgium would hand over 30 F-16s to Ukraine not by the end of 2025, as planned and promised, but by the end of 2028. The reason was announced: The United States is delaying the delivery of F-35s, which are supposed to replace the F-16s in the Belgian military fleet. 30 F-16s are a significant number, and they could significantly improve Ukraine’s position in the sky, including a very significant boost to its air defense system. Now Ukraine cannot count on these aircraft until 2028.
Later, it turned out that the approved 800 billion euro defense package for Ukraine did not include anything special. It only mentions that Ukrainian defense companies are part of the same “pool” as European ones, and therefore the purchase of weapons from them is a priority along with EU companies.
At the same time, it turned out that during the third year of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, the EU spent more money on Russian fossil fuels than on financial assistance to Ukraine. During this time, the EU bought 21.9 billion euros worth of Russian oil and gas. This amount is one-sixth higher than the 18.7 billion euros that the EU has allocated to Ukraine as financial aid in 2024.
There will be no more preferential trade regime either.
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