Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu is going to kyiv on Wednesday 28 December. Russia has just banned from February 1 the sale of its oil to foreign countries that use the cap on the price of Russian black gold. Russia bombed the Kherson maternity hospital on Tuesday, Ukrainian authorities say.
- Sébastien Lecornu goes to Ukraine
French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu is going to kyiv today. He will pay tribute to the Ukrainians killed since the beginning of the Russian offensive and must in particular specify the details of the military aid provided by France to Ukraine.
- Sale of Russian oil banned to countries that cap prices
Russia will ban from February 1 the sale of its oil to foreign countries that use the cap on the price of Russian black gold, a decision that did little to react to crude prices on the markets on Tuesday. This ceiling price had been set at the beginning of December at 60 dollars per barrel by the EU, the G7, and Australia; and aims to deprive Moscow of significant revenue to finance its military intervention in Ukraine.
“The delivery of Russian oil and oil products to foreign legal entities and other individuals is prohibited” if they use the ceiling price, is it written in a decree signed Tuesday by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The decree specifies that this measure is planned for a period of five months, “until July 1, 2023”. Only “a special decision” by Vladimir Putin himself will be able to allow the delivery of Russian oil to one or more countries which have set up the price ceiling in recent weeks, it is indicated in the decree published on Tuesday.
- A limited impact on prices
Faced with this decision by Moscow on Tuesday, the price of black gold, already at its highest in three weeks, first climbed but the ascent was short-lived. The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in February finally ended up modestly up 0.48% to 84.33 dollars.
As for the barrel of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI), also due in February, it lost 0.03% to 79.53 dollars. “There was a very distinct price reaction ‘to the Russian announcement’ but actually this move comes as no surprise to the market,” Kpler commodities market analyst Matt Smith commented to the UK. AFP.
According to him, the application of this ban will have a limited impact, because “big buyers of Russian crude like India or China do not apply the price ceiling” and buy it below 60 dollars a barrel.
- A bombed maternity ward in Kherson (Ukrainian presidency)
Russia bombed the Kherson maternity hospital on Tuesday, December 27, say the Ukrainian authorities. “Five women who had just given birth were still present. Miraculously, no one was injured,” said Deputy Chief of Cabinet of the Ukrainian Presidency, Kirill Timoshenko