The talks have been ponderously rolling along for months and of course the more that gets resolved the more we move closer to the real gnarly issues that are difficult to reach agreement upon.
The price is now the main obstacle to an agreement. Poland and Baltic nations want the price cap lower than $65 given Russia is already selling its crude at prices under this level. Oil is the biggest source of revenue for the Russian budget, so the point of the cap is to impact Russia’s ability to finance its war of invasion on Ukraine.
The deadline that's looming is that EU sanctions on Russian oil are set to begin on 5th December.
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Talks are set to recommence today, 28 November 2022.
