Bruno Le Maire, the finance minister of France, said on Saturday that the G-7’s efforts to put a price cap on Russian oil would be unsuccessful without support from the rest of the world.
The G-7 economic superpowers revealed their agreement on a strategy to impose a set price on Russian oil on Friday.
This initiative is the most recent effort to put pressure on Moscow economically over its invasion of Ukraine. Le Maire asserted that the strategy should be carried out as a “global measure against war” in addition to reducing Russia’s oil revenues, which are a significant source of funding for President Vladimir Putin’s war chest.
In an interview with CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick at the Ambrosetti Forum in Italy, Le Maire said, “You need an outreach because we don’t want this measure to be only a Western measure.”
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He continued, “It shouldn’t be a Western response to Russia; it should be a global response to war.”
Le Maire acknowledged that the process will be “quite difficult,” but the G-7, which consists of the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, the U.K., Italy, and Japan, has yet to decide how the price cap will be implemented.
However, it is anticipated to be completed before the start of December, when EU sanctions on the import of Russian crude by sea go into effect.
He made reference to the EU, a group of countries that is not listed as a member of the G-7, saying, “We know that we need the unity from all the 27 member states if you want to get the green light for introducing that cap.”
Le Maire went further, stating that the policy would necessitate the involvement of other significant international economies.
It comes in response to remarks made by Kadri Simson, the energy chief for the EU, who urged participation from China and India, both of which have increased their purchases of Russian oil this year in order to take advantage of lower prices.
Le Maire stated that “if we want to be effective with these sanctions, we need to reduce the revenues that Russia is receiving from selling oil and gas.”
