The US on Thursday said permitting an unrestricted Russian oil trade was and remains “unacceptable” and the western price cap on Moscow’s petroleum products is designed to force it to continue selling oil but for lower prices than it could otherwise obtain.
At the same time, US officials said Washington has not asked India to reduce the volume of its oil import from Russia.
The G7 price cap mechanism made it possible to stunt a major source of funding for Moscow’s war machine while also maintaining a stable energy supply to Europe and to emerging markets, US Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy Eric Van Nostrand said at an interactive session at the Ananta Centre.”Emerging markets like India benefited from the discounted price of Russian oil relative to global markets,” he said, asserting that the price cap mechanism was aimed at forcing Russia to sell oil at lower prices.
