Leaders of the free world say hello to Putin/Getty Images
Joking about the physical condition of the owner of the Kremlin, the leaders of the most developed economies also send him sanctions congratulations.
The work is not completed
The adoption of the sixth package of sanctions has not put an end to issues of Russian oil and oil products. The G7 are seriously discussing changes and the introduction of a special tax on Russian oil to increase the restriction of both financial flows and the possibility of selling oil on other markets.
Sanctions due to special taxes and price restrictions are a well-established mechanism in the world, they were used both against Iraq and against Iran.
This mechanism aims at a key factor for dictators: their income. We offered our partners to use this method of limiting the dictator's income immediately after the start of the war. Unfortunately, we were heard only when they realized that Putin was already using energy resources exclusively as a weapon.
The mechanism of Russia's oppression
The introduction of this tax will be effective only if it is applied by all buyers of Russian oil, and not just Europeans. It sounds unrealistic at first glance, but meanwhile it is quite real, because the supply of oil by sea is possible only if there is insurance for ships that fell under sanctions in the sixth package.
Thus, after the transition period, consumers of Russian oil are faced with a choice either to miss a completely legal opportunity to receive this oil, or to agree to the introduction of a tax.
The money received from the tax can be frozen or even transferred for the development of Ukraine. If this decision is implemented, Putin will have nowhere to go, he does not dictate any conditions on the oil market.
Russians are not the only ones who know how to twist their arms and joke at diplomatic meetings. And the gas war opened by Putin accelerated the process of abandoning Russian energy sources. The Kremlin's “energy cow” should go for minced meat.
