U.S. To Offer EU Not To Impose Oil Embargo Against Russian Federation, But Tax Oil - Media

The United States wants to offer European Union countries a tax on Russian-supplied oil as a faster alternative to the oil embargo.

This was reported by Reuters, citing representatives of the U.S. Treasury.

Now the EU countries are working on approving a new package of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. One of the points of restrictive measures should be the phasing out of Russian oil supplies.

However, due to a number of EU members, the approval of the sanctions package is postponed. Countries such as Hungary and Slovakia, which are heavily dependent on Russian supplies, are blocking approval of sanctions.

At the upcoming meeting of the G7 countries, U.S. representatives intend to propose to European countries to introduce a tax on Russian oil.

“The Treasury officials said because Russian oil sells at a discount to global benchmark crudes, a tariff could be set at a level that would both capture part of that gap and reduce Russia's profits, the officials said.”

It is noted that the oil tax should not be too high for Russia to receive profits exceeding its own costs and at the same time have an incentive to continue exports.

The U.S. Treasury also wants to propose that the funds received as an oil tax be sent to the post-war reconstruction fund of Ukraine.

This may partially satisfy the desire to force Russia to pay for some part of the measures to restore the country.

Recall, on May 8, the countries of the European Union could not agree on the sixth package of sanctions against Russia, which includes the introduction of an oil embargo.

Hungary vetoed the imposition of sanctions, as the country's government was not satisfied with the proposed delay.

And on May 11, Politico reported, citing its own sources, that the EU is considering the possibility of allocating compensation to Hungary so that it agrees to support the sanctions.

Earlier, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto called the price of compensation, which will be enough to support sanctions.

To request a correction, please send an email.