EU countries extend Russian oil price cap by a week

EU countries have agreed to maintain the Russian oil price cap at its current level of 44 dollars until Thursday, July 23. This temporary extension aims to provide more time to work on outstanding challenges in the 21st sanctions package against Russia, after EU countries missed an unofficial Wednesday deadline.

Negotiations are difficult because the sanctions increasingly hurt interests within various EU countries. For example, Bulgaria opposed putting the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill on the sanctions list, Germany fought against a ban on importing Alaska pollock from Russia, and some countries pushed to mitigate a planned comprehensive visa ban against all Russians who participated in the war in Ukraine.