French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire speaks on July 25, 2022 at the Ministry of Finance in Berlin, Germany.
david gannon | AFP | Getty Images
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Saturday that efforts by G-7 countries to introduce a price cap on Russian oil would require the commitment of the wider international community to succeed.
The G-7 economic powers announced on Friday that they had agreed to a plan to impose a fixed price on Russian oil.
The move is the latest attempt to put economic pressure on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine. But as well as cutting Russia’s oil revenue – a key source of funding for President Vladimir Putin’s war chest – Le Maire said the policy should be implemented as a “global measure against war”.
“You need awareness because we don’t want this measure to be just a Western measure,” Le Maire told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick at the Ambrosetti Forum in Italy.
“It shouldn’t be a Western measure against Russia, it should be a comprehensive measure against war,” he added.
The G-7 – which includes the United States, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan – has yet to finalize how the price cap will be implemented. work, a process which, according to Le Maire, will be “quite difficult”.
However, it should be ready before early December, when EU sanctions on maritime imports of Russian crude come into effect.
“We know we need the unity of the 27 member states if you want to get the green light to introduce this cap,” he said, referring to the EU nation bloc, an unlisted member. of the G-7.
More than that, however, Le Maire said the policy would require the participation of other major global economies.
This follows comments from Kadri Simson, the EU’s energy chief, who called for the involvement of China and India, both of which have increased their purchases of Russian oil this year, benefiting reduced rates.
“If we want to be effective in these sanctions, we have to reduce the income Russia gets from the sale of oil and gas,” Le Maire said.
Europe, a “third world superpower”
Russia has previously said it will not sell oil to countries that impose a price limit. And following Friday’s G-7 announcement, Russian energy giant Gazprom said it would not restart gas flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline due to technical issues.
This came after the gas supply had already been interrupted last week for a planned “maintenance blackout” which was due to last until September 3.
Paolo Gentiloni, the EU’s economy commissioner, said on Saturday the bloc was “ready to react” to Russia’s decision to halt gas supplies to the region.
France’s mayor separately says Europe’s steadfast opposition to Russia, including through economic sanctions and international diplomacy, is proof of the region’s growing status as the world’s “third superpower”. .
“Things are changing radically. Europe is becoming a superpower, not only from an economic point of view but also from a political point of view,” said Le Maire.
“I really think we are going in the right direction for Europe to play a part in the 21st century between China and the United States,” he added.