Treasury’s Adeyemo says ‘far better’ to see Russia buying tankers than tanks By Reuters

By Andrea Shalal

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo on Thursday said the Group of Seven-led coalition that imposed a price cap on Russian oil last December was shifting its focus from reducing Russian revenues to raising Moscow’s cost of shipping its oil.

Adeyemo told the Reuters NEXT conference in New York that Russia’s investment in a shadow fleet of tankers to carry its oil and the accompanying insurance was cutting into Moscow’s profits and reducing its ability to fund its war in Ukraine.

“We want to make sure that Russia has as little income as possible that they can use to fund their illegitimate war in Ukraine,” he said, citing outside estimates that the price cap had added up to $35 per barrel to Russia’s costs in addition to reducing its revenues by 40% to 50%.

“From my standpoint, them buying these tankers and spending money on tankers was far better than spending money on tanks,” he said. “So now Russia owns a series of inadequate tankers that are on the ocean, trying…