EU commissioner signals EU will not lift sanctions on Russian oil and gas

The European Union is insisting on keeping up sanctions pressure on Russia, including the G7 price cap and a tighter ban on maritime services for Russian tankers.

Valdis Dombrovskis, EU Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, said after a meeting of the EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council in Brussels that the EU is very clear about maintaining maximum pressure on Russia.

"From the European Union point of view, the situation is very clear. We must continue to exert maximum pressure on Russia," he said.

Dombrovskis said the current spike in oil and gas prices may provide windfall revenues for Russia.

"So that's why [it's] important to strictly enforce a G7 price cap and potentially move to the full maritime services ban," he added.

Dombrovskis said the EU has assessed the impact of the G7 price cap on Russian oil deliveries and concluded that it did not lead to significant changes in Russian export volumes and therefore did not destabilise the market.

"At the same time, it [the G7 price cap] has limited Russia's revenues from those volumes, and as such, this price cap can actually help to exert downward pressure on oil prices," he concluded.

US President Donald Trump has announced that his country is partially lifting sanctions related to oil trading in order to curb a sharp rise in energy prices. He did not provide further details beyond saying he had discussed the issue with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

The United States has told allies that Trump's announced easing of oil sanctions on "some countries" will largely be limited to supplies to India.

The US has given India permission to buy Russian oil for a month amid the war in the Middle East.

Oil prices fell below US$100 a barrel again after reports that the G7 is considering releasing strategic oil reserves to soften the impact of a surge in energy prices.