The European Union diplomats have agreed on a $60 per barrel limit on the price at which Russian oil can be traded outside the bloc, a move by Western allies to try to deprive Moscow of revenue to finance its war in Ukraine.
There are serious questions as to whether such a plan can be enforced, and whether Russia and its main buyers, including China and India, will go along with the price set by the Group of 7 industrialized nations.
Here is a look at some key elements of the plan:
It aims to let Russia keep selling oil, but earn less from it.
Western allies don't want Russia to stop selling oil, its main export. Doing so would put a big dent in global supply and drive prices up at a time of already soaring global inflation. It would affect countries such as India and Turkey, key buyers of Russian crude whose support the West is hoping to maintain pressure on Moscow.
The United States and allies have negotiated a plan that aims to reduce the revenue that Russia earns from each barrel it ships. Russia is on track to earn more oil this year than in 2021 because of a surge in the global price after the war, despite selling often to China and India at discounts, despite the fact that Western sanctions have failed to weaken Moscow's energy exports.