Ambassador says India is cautious about capping oil price

NEW DELHI, Sep 23 – PRIME India is cautious about capping the price of oil, Russian Ambassador Denis Alipov said.

On September 2, the finance ministers of the G7 countries (Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada, the USA, France and Japan) confirmed their intention to impose price restrictions on Russian oil as part of the expansion of sanctions. It is planned that the price limit will be introduced on December 5 for oil and on February 5, 2023 for oil products. Russian representatives warned in response that the countries that would apply the limits would be left without Russian oil exports.

“So far, we see a very cautious approach of the Indian government to the idea of ​​limiting the price (for oil from the Russian Federation). I’m not sure that this will be beneficial to India’s interests. India intends to follow its interests if such a step is taken,” Alipov said at a press conference. conferences.

He noted that despite the recent decline in fuel supplies, Russia is ready to expand this cooperation.

“We are talking about long-term supplies. As a rule, this is a matter of demand from India and supply from Russia. We are ready to expand this cooperation,” he said.

At the same time, the diplomat added that “we will not trade and cooperate to our detriment.”

Earlier, India’s Oil and Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, speaking about the proposal to impose a price cap on Russian oil, said that India would carefully evaluate whether to support this proposal. The minister added that it was still unclear which countries would take part in the proposed price cap and what implications this might have for the markets. He also indicated that he has no “moral conflict” over buying Russian oil, but has a moral obligation to consumers in India.