EU calls for lower price cap on Russian oil in move to tighten sanctions

A worker walks past a drilling rig at a well pad of the Rosneft-owned Prirazlomnoye oil field outside Nefteyugansk, Russia. Photograph: Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters

The EU executive has called for lowering the price cap on Russian oil as it seeks to tighten energy and financial sanctions against the Kremlin’s ability to wage war.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, proposed that western countries reduce the price at which Russian oil can be sold to $45 (£30) a barrel, down from the current $60.