Ukraine predicts the collapse of the Russian economy due to the G7 caps on oil prices

Ukraine predicted on Saturday that the cap on oil prices will sink Russiawhich emphatically rejected this measure, decided by the Western powers.

The Ukrainian authorities for their part called on the population to “endure” the privations imposed by the bombardments against their energy plants.

We always achieve our goal and Russia’s economy will be destroyed and Russia will have to take responsibility for all its crimes,” Ukrainian presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak said.

The 27 countries of the European Union (EU), the G7 of the most advanced economies and Australia agreed on Friday to impose a maximum price of 60 dollars a barrel of oil from Russia, second world exporter of fuel.

The measure will take effect on Monday, together with an EU embargo on Russian crude, in a new twist in the sanctions applied since President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine on February 24.

The G7 (United States, Canada, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy and Japan) assured that in this way they intend to “prevent Russia from gaining from its aggressive war against Ukraine” and “support stability in world energy markets.”

Russia flatly rejected these limitations.

“We will not accept such a cap,” presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov said, adding that Moscow was “analyzing” the measure.

we have to hold on

The Russian bombardments in recent weeks against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have deprived millions of families of electricity, water and heating, at a time when temperatures are rapidly cooling due to the arrival of boreal winter.

“We have to hold on”said the governor of the southern region of Mykolaiv, Vitaliy Kim, on Telegram.

Putin considered that these bombardments are “necessary and inevitable in the face of the provocative attacks from kyiv,” the Kremlin said on Friday.

According to Putin, Ukraine is responsible for the explosions that partially destroyed the Russian bridge in Crimea at the beginning of October, which would enable Russia to bomb energy infrastructure in the former Soviet republic.

Putin once again complained, in a conversation with German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz, about Western financial and military support that has allowed Ukraine to inflict humiliating defeats on Russia in the biggest European conflict since the end of World War II.

But the Ukrainian counteroffensive apparently stopped advancing as quickly.

The fighting is especially “hard” in the east, because “the Russians had time to prepare” after recent setbacks, said the governor of the Lugansk region, Sergei Gaidai.

The situation is also “difficult” near Bakhmut, in the eastern Donetsk region, says a report from the Ukrainian army. The Russians have been trying to conquer this town since the summer and controlling it would represent a success for Moscow after recent withdrawals.

Donetsk is part of the Donbas Basin, which Russia annexed at the beginning of October although it has so far failed to fully conquer it.

Even so, Putin intends to visit the area “at the right time,” Peskov said on Saturday, reiterating that for Moscow, it is “a region of the Russian Federation.”

US President Joe Biden said on Thursday he was “willing to talk” with Putin, but only if the Russian leader sought “a way to end the war” and withdraw his troops from the country.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said Russia rejected those conditions. “The special military operation is going to continue,” he insisted, using Russia’s official terminology for the offensive in Ukraine.

Ukraine rejects any negotiations with Putin if its territorial integrity is not respected, which includes the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014.