According to diplomatic sources, the 27 EU countries were close to finalizing a deal on Thursday evening to put a ceiling of $60 a barrel on the price of Russian oil sold to third countries, in addition to the embargo that takes effect on Monday. , reports AFP.

The mechanism involves a ban on transport services for Russian oil above the limit to limit Moscow’s revenue from its shipments to non-embargoed countries such as China or India.

It is about reducing the resources that allow Russia to finance the war in Ukraine.

Diplomatic sources say the European Commission has proposed a base limit of $60, with a cap of 5% below market prices if they fall below that threshold.

The proposal had broad consensus among member states, and all that was missing was a late-afternoon green light from Warsaw to approve the mechanism, they said, with Poland demanding a $30 cap.

The EU has already decided to ban twenty-seven from buying Russian oil at sea from December 5. This maritime oil embargo will cancel two-thirds of European purchases of Russian oil.

As Germany and Poland decide on their own to cut crude oil pipelines by the end of the year, Russian imports will be hit by more than 90 percent, Europeans say.

Russia has earned 67 billion euros from oil sales to the EU since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, and its annual military budget is about 60 billion a year, notes Phuc-Vinh Nguyen, an energy expert at the Jacques Delors Institute.

The restriction mechanism, which expires on Thursday evening, should strengthen the effectiveness of this embargo. In fact, tankers carrying Russian oil to third countries will no longer be able to be financed or insured for six months by European operators to prevent Moscow’s export diversion.

In addition to the EU, the coalition of states that wants to impose price restrictions on Russian oil includes Australia and all G7 countries, including the United States.

Poland and the Baltics argued for a much lower limit of $60, believing that at that price it would have little impact on the market, other than symbolic and political.

The price, in any case, must remain above the production prices to encourage Russia to continue sales.

Some experts fear the destabilization of the world oil market and are interested in the reaction of the OPEC countries, whose meeting is scheduled to take place on Sunday in Vienna.

The Kremlin has warned that Russia will stop supplying oil to countries that introduce this restriction.