The Group of Seven economic powers have agreed to explore imposing a ban on transporting Russian oil that has been sold above a certain price, they said on Tuesday.
“We invite all like-minded countries to consider joining us in our actions,” the G7 leaders said in the communique.
The war in Ukraine and its dramatic economic fallout, in particular soaring food and energy inflation, has dominated this year’s summit of the group of rich democracies at a castle resort in the Bavarian Alps.
The G7 is looking at price caps as a way to prevent Moscow profiting from its invasion of Ukraine, which has sharply raised energy prices, taking the sting out of Western efforts to reduce imports of Russian oil and gas.
Russian oil export revenues climbed in May even as volumes fell, the International Energy Agency said in its June monthly report.
A ceiling on how much other countries pay Russia for oil would squeeze Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “resources that he has to wage war and secondly increase stability and the security of supply in global oil markets,” a senior U.S. administration official said on Tuesday.
G7 leaders have also agreed to push for a ban on imports of Russian gold as part of efforts to tighten the sanctions squeeze on Moscow, an EU official said on Tuesday.
The war, which has killed thousands and sent millions fleeing, entered its fifth month with no signs of abating.
Firefighters and soldiers searched on Tuesday for survivors in the rubble of a shopping mall in central Ukraine struck by a Russian missile.
