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U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo applauded a European Union deal for a $60-a-barrel price cap on Russian oil exports on Thursday, saying this was within the range of discussed price levels and would limit Moscow's oil revenues.
Adeyemo told the Reuters NEXT conference that he believes that EU member countries will finalize the price cap agreement because they have consistently applied sanctions to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
The European Union tentatively agreed earlier on a $60 level to start the price cap, with a regular adjustment mechanism.
"It's in the range of prices that we've been talking about for a while in terms of creating and helping us do two things. One is reducing Russia's revenues. But the second one is making sure that we keep Russian barrels on the market," Adeyemo said.
Adeyemo said it was difficult to know how much Russia is earning from its oil exports, but even if some market prices are currently below the $60 price cap level, the mechanism will limit the upside of Russian oil prices and further shrink Russia's economy in 2023.
Serbia appointed Aleksandar Vulin, a controversial former interior minister with ties to the Kremlin, as head of Balkan country's intelligence agency, state-controlled public broadcaster RTS reported Thursday, according to Agence France-Presse.
While Serbia condemned Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations, it refused to join Western sanctions against Russia.
Vulin is a former defense and interior minister whose fiercely nationalist outbursts have often caused diplomatic rows with neighboring countries.
He is one of the few high-ranking European politicians to visit Moscow since the start of the conflict. The 50-year-old met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in August.
Vulin has already said that Serbia "will not be a part of anti-Russian hysteria," highlighting Moscow's diplomatic support for Serbia.
The ruble dived on Thursday to a near five-month low against the euro and its lowest in almost seven weeks to the yuan, Reuters reported, as the Russian currency was squeezed by the end of a favorable month-end tax payment period.
By midday Thursday, the ruble had shed 1.4% against the yuan to 8.72, hitting its weakest since Oct. 14.
It was 0.6% weaker against the dollar at 61.32, earlier clipping a three-week low, and had lost 2.3% to trade at 64.54 versus the euro, its weakest mark since July 7.
While the yuan has been making gradual inroads into Russia for years, the crawl has turned into a sprint in the past nine months as the currency swept into the country’s markets and trade flows, according to a Reuters review of data and interviews with 10 business and finance players.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said interest rate hikes could be scaled back "as soon as December," which pushed the dollar lower.
But the ruble has now lost support from a favorable month-end tax period that usually sees Russian exporters convert foreign currency revenues into rubles to pay local liabilities.
The ruble may also come under pressure from the upcoming price cap on Russian oil, said Alfa Capital analyst Alexander Dzhioev, although this is offset by Russia's balance of payments.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that it was too early to make conclusions about ongoing talks on Poland's request to move Patriot systems offered by Germany to Ukraine, Reuters reported.
"We all agree on the urgent need to help Ukraine, including with air defense systems," said Stoltenberg in Berlin at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
However, he added, "it is important to understand that this is not only about delivering new systems but ensuring the systems that are being delivered can operate," including having enough ammunition, spare parts and maintenance.
Dutch prosecutors said Thursday they will not appeal the acquittal of a Russian man over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 as it would be a "great burden" for families, Agence France-Presse reported.
Oleg Pulatov was found not guilty by a Dutch court on November 17 while Russians Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko were convicted and sentenced to life in absentia.
All 298 people on board the plane were killed when it was shot down by a Russian-made missile fired by Moscow-backed separatists over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, the court ruled.
The victims of the disaster came from 10 countries, including 196 Dutch, 43 Malaysians and 38 Australians.