Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky held a telephone conversation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday in the context of the approval of a maximum price on oil from Russia and the possible cap on Russian gas in Europe.
The two leaders discussed “coordinated measures with Von der Leyen to limit Russia’s excessive profits from oil and gas sales,” Zelenski said on his official Twitter profile, adding that they also discussed “the allocation of the next tranche of aid” from the European Union to Kiev.
Zelenski has stressed that “a quick assessment” by the European Commission is being considered “as soon as Ukraine complies with the necessary recommendations” for Kiev to move forward on the European path.
It should be recalled that some of these pending guidelines are in the area of rule of law, such as appointing justice councilors, having a functioning anti-corruption agency and seeing results of the recently adopted law against oligarchs.
The document prepared by Brussels also mentions the law on minorities that the Ukrainian authorities have yet to adopt, while on the economic side, the country must carry out reforms to improve the functioning of its economy.
The Group of Seven (G-7) reached an agreement to introduce a price cap on Russian oil and other oil products, according to a communiqué issued by the club of countries at the end of the finance ministers’ meeting held on Friday.
Shortly afterwards, Moscow decided to indefinitely cut off the supply of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, after which the European Commission assured that this action demonstrated Russia’s “unreliability” as a supplier of fossil fuels to Europe, as well as its “cynicism”.
In the context of the energy crisis, the President of the Community Executive, Ursula von der Leyen, called precisely on Friday for imposing a ceiling on the price of Russian gas as a measure of urgent intervention in the electricity market to contain the electricity bill.
On the other hand, the countries of the European Union agreed on Wednesday to restrict visas for Russian tourists by suspending the visa facilitation agreement with Russia, which will mean a significant reduction in the number of permits for Russian citizens to enter the EU and more obstacles to obtain them.
Source: News360
