Von der Leyen's plan backfires. No agreement on Russian oil

According to Bloomberg sources, several EU countries have said that a lower oil price ceiling would only work if the United States supported the proposal. After this week’s G7 summit, it became clear that the US was not willing to support tougher sanctions against Russia .

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters at a meeting in Alberta, Canada, that the sanctions “are costing us a lot of money.”

EU prepares eighteenth package of sanctions against Russia

The EU package - the 18th since Russia invaded Ukraine - is still set to include a ban on the Nord Stream gas pipeline between Germany and Russia, as well as an extension of SWIFT sanctions to additional banks. EU foreign ministers will discuss the measures in Brussels on Monday.

Von der Leyen believes there is currently no pressure to reduce the price

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen this week appeared to back down from an EU proposal to lower the price cap on Russian oil , which is intended to limit the possibility of financing Russian President Vladimir Putin's war with Ukraine .

"In recent days we have seen that the price has gone up, so the oil price ceiling is doing its job," von der Leyen said on the sidelines of the G7 meeting where the proposal was discussed, as quoted by Bloomberg. " There is no pressure to lower the oil price ceiling at the moment, " she added.

After falling below the current $60-a-barrel limit, Russian oil prices have surged above the threshold in the past week. In theory, that makes it illegal for Western partners to trade Russian oil unless they can obtain documentation that the commodity cost $60 or less.

Oil prices have erased some of the gains made last week after the Israeli-Iranian attacks began, but are still higher than before the conflict. The biggest fear for the market is a potential blockage of the key Strait of Hormuz, which could push prices even higher.