RT-Engels: 31-03-2026,
The Western “anti-market” price limit disrupts supply chains amid rising energy demand, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko has said
Moscow will not supply oil to countries backing an “anti-market” price cap scheme, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko has said, as demand for crude rises amid the Middle East conflict.
Western countries backing Ukraine, including the G7 members and Australia, said they would phase out Russian oil and gas imports following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.
These countries cut purchases and forced Russia to sell crude at a discount to global benchmarks under a price cap system, currently set at about $44 per barrel.
However, in recent weeks this trend has partially reversed: Russia’s Urals crude has been sold to India and other buyers at a premium, with Urals DAP West Coast India prices exceeding $121.5 per barrel on March 19, 2026, and trading about $3.9 per barrel above Dated Brent, compared to a discount of around $12 per barrel in early March.
Rudenko told Izvestia on Tuesday that energy markets are volatile due to tightening supplies and rising prices. When asked about talks with “unfriendly” states like Japan to resume buying Russian oil, he said Tokyo is bound by the price cap, which he called an “anti-market” measure that disrupts supply chains. Rudenko added that Russia will not sell oil to “provocative” countries.
Energy prices surged after the US and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran on February 28,