MOSCOW: Russia, the world's biggest exporter of energy, may cut oil production and will refuse to sell oil to any country which imposes the West's price cap on Russian oil, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
The Group of Seven and Australia last week agreed a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil after European Union members overcame resistance from Poland.
"As for our reaction, I have already said that we simply will not sell to those countries that make such decisions," Putin told reporters in Bishkek.
"We will think, maybe even about the possible, if necessary... reduction in production."
Putin said that Russia had an agreement with OPEC+ about production so such a drastic step was still only a possibility.
"We are thinking about this, there are no solutions yet. And concrete steps will be outlined in the decree of the president of Russia, which will be released in the next few days," Putin said.
Putin also said Moscow would not lose out from the West's price cap and that the government's finances would hold up fine.
He said the West's move was "stupid" and that energy prices would "skyrocket" for those who imposed the caps.
He said Moscow was preparing a response, which would be announced in the coming days.
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