(Washington) The cap on the price of Russian oil has led to a 50% drop in revenues from oil in the first five months of this year, assured Thursday the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Wally Adeyemo, during a meeting on Thursday. speech in Washington.

Aiming to reduce the Russian government’s ability to finance the war in Ukraine, a cap on the price of its oil was put in place in December by a coalition of the G7, the European Union and Australia.

The cap was set at $60, as Brent prices were close to $76 on Thursday.

“This decline in oil revenues has been observed despite an increase in Russian oil exports compared to the beginning of the war,” Mr. Adeyemo assured, “despite these higher sales, Russia is making less money, because its oil is currently selling for around 25% below market prices.”

Asked how the Treasury manages to determine the level of Russian revenues, a ministry official assured that the United States has several tools with which to measure the prices applied for Russian oil.

The Russian authorities have themselves acknowledged the effect on their income in this area, the same source said, adding that no decision had been taken on the end of the cap.

Besides capping Russian oil prices, Western sanctions are also making it harder for the Russian government to replace the more than 10,000 pieces of military equipment lost since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, he said. also insured.