Good news for Vladimir Putin – Expert annoys the EU: “This is a farce”

This week, EU countries failed to reach an agreement on a new sanctions package against Russia. This directly means that the Russian crude oil price ceiling had to be temporarily frozen at $44.10 for a week. If an agreement on the sanctions package is not reached even next week, the price ceiling will automatically rise because the market price of crude oil has risen due to the Iran war.

This would be exceptionally good news for the Russian president in the middle of the fuel crisis and economic distress to Vladimir Putin.

Under rules drawn up by the commission, the price ceiling, currently $44.10 per barrel, must be automatically revised every six months to remain 15 percent below the average market price.

EuroNews according to the experts interviewed, the price ceiling will probably rise to 58 dollars per barrel if an agreement on sanctions is not reached. This would give Putin and the Kremlin a valuable respite just as Ukraine is recording victories on the battlefield.

Italy, Greece and Bulgaria oppose

The sanctions package is particularly opposed by Italy and Greece.

In addition, Austria has made the acceptance of the package conditional on the compensation to be paid to Raiffeisen Bank for the “forced redemption” of the bank’s Russian operations. The demand would require the seizure and sale of frozen Russian assets worth 2.1 billion euros in Austria. They are a Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaskan assets frozen from the owned company.

Greece has expressed its concern about the EU’s restrictions on the sale of Russian liquefied natural gas, and Italy is demanding the relaxation of visa restrictions for former Russian soldiers. Bulgaria and Italy also oppose the patriarch Cyrillic line sanctions.

A major investor who became known as a political activist and outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin and Visiting researcher at the Italian Bocconi University Bill Browder describes the EU’s actions as a farce. In his analysis published on Friday, he reminds that, in addition to the sanctions episode, EU countries have paid Russia six billion euros for natural gas in the first half of the current year.

“This is not politics. This is a farce,” Browder states.

“Cut oil and gas revenues and the war will end”

He emphasizes that Putin’s Russia gets its income precisely by selling crude oil and natural gas to foreign buyers.

“Last year, these sales poured about 88 billion euros into Russia’s budget. That’s money to pay soldiers, build missiles, and keep the war going. If we want to end the war, this is the target. Cut the oil and gas revenue and the war will end. It’s really that simple,” Browder writes.

Vice President of the Italian International Policy Institute IAI and Director of European Studies Nicoletta Pirozzi on the other hand, considers that it is about the credibility of the EU as a whole.

He considers the biggest problem to be the decision-making that requires the consensus of the member countries, which is not suitable for solving geopolitical problems. Pirozzi also emphasizes that the ex-prime minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán certainly wasn’t the only one who wanted to topple anti-Russian sanctions. For example, this time it is about several different EU countries.

The new sanctions package will be discussed next Thursday. The new price ceiling for Russian oil will come into effect at the beginning of August, so the decision is now urgent.