Biden falls short of achieving G7 goals, no deal on Russia oil price cap

Biden on Tuesday departed the Group of Seven summit in Germany without securing a consensus to cap the price of Russian oil, impose tougher sanctions on Moscow or expand a plan to counter China’s growing influence around the globe.

SEE ALSO: G-7 summit ends without agreement on Russian oil price caps.

French President Emmanuel Macron vowed Tuesday, as the summit in Germany wrapped up, that the G-7 powers would support Ukraine and keep up painful sanctions against Russia “as long as necessary, and with the necessary intensity.” He harshly condemned a Russian missile attack on a Ukrainian shopping mall Monday that killed at least 18 Ukrainian civilians.

Leaders also agreed to ban imports of Russian gold to punish Moscow for its unrelenting war in Ukraine, but the move is largely symbolic.

Biden had pushed to impose a global price cap on Russian oil to cut off Moscow’s energy profits, which are helping President Vladimir Putin finance his war in Ukraine.

The summit concluded with only an agreement to review the idea, but no clear path to how such a price limit would be imposed.

officials say Russian forces ‘hollowed out’ from Ukraine invasion losses.

It would require a process to trace Russian oil that flows out of a series of pipelines and combines with millions of barrels of oil exported every day from other oil-producing countries.

France threw a monkey wrench into the agreement on Monday when President Emmanuel Macron called for a worldwide cap on oil prices instead of restricting only Russian oil sales.

Biden sought to entice other G-7 leaders to go along with the price cap by offering to lift sanctions on insurance for cargo ships that transport Russian oil.

Biden’s plan, the sanctions would be lifted only for countries agreeing to buy Russian oil at a maximum price.

“We will consider a range of approaches, including options for a possible comprehensive prohibition of all services, which enable transportation of Russian seaborne crude oil and petroleum products globally, unless the oil is purchased at or below a price to be agreed in consultations with international partners,” the statement said.

The White House hailed the consensus as a victory that will make it harder for Russia to wage war against Ukraine.

“By working together to limit the price of Russian oil, we will further strengthen the existing sanctions imposed by the G-7 and our partners to make sure that Putin will not be able to profit from the higher global energy costs that have resulted from his invasion,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that a price cap agreement would be a “pretty dramatic step forward” and would amount to “one of the more significant outcomes of [the] G-7 summit.” He said a final deal could take weeks or months to reach.

The only sanction coordinated with other G-7 allies is the prohibition on Russian gold.

Russia has ramped up gold production to compensate for the impact of economic sanctions, but European countries have largely steered clear of Russian gold.

The London Bullion Market Association, a major gold trade hub, suspended transactions with Russian silver and gold refineries in March

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned the West that “the more weapons are pumped into Ukraine, the longer the conflict will continue and the longer the agony of the Nazi regime backed by Western capitals will last.”