Exclusive: U.S., allies pressure Liberia, Marshall Islands, Panama over Russia oil sanctions

The U.S., EU and UK are pressuring Liberia, the Marshall Islands and Panama to increase oversight of ships carrying their flags to ensure they do not transport Russian oil sold above the price cap, a source who has seen the communications to the countries said on Friday. The move marks another escalation in the West's efforts to enforce the $60 price cap on seaborne shipments of Russian oil it imposed to punish Moscow for its war in Ukraine. The cap, which aims to reduce Russia's export revenues while maintaining flows of oil around the world, was imposed in late 2022 but has only recently been enforced. The mechanism bans Western companies from providing maritime services such as transportation, insurance and finance that facilitate the trade of Russian oil sold above the cap. Russia has increasingly had to turn to a so-called "ghost fleet" of aging tankers to ship oil and avoid the cap. That fleet is transporting oil to countries including China and India, much further away than Russia's traditional customer base and adding greatly to shipping costs.