Russia rejects price cap of $60 a barrel on oil, threatens cutoffs

"One thing is obvious and indisputable: the adoption of these decisions is a step towards destabilizing world energy markets," a Kremlin spokesman said.

By Madeleine Hubbard

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday rejected any price caps on oil after dozens of Western nations set the limit for Russian oil at $60 per barrel.

"One thing is clear - we will not recognize any ceilings," Peskov told reporters, according to a translated report from Russian state-run agency Tass. "The adoption of these decisions is a step towards destabilizing world energy markets."

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, threatened Saturday to cut off Europe's oil supply.

"Starting from this year #Europe will live w/o Russian oil," he tweeted. "#Moscow has already made it clear that it will NOT supply #oil to those countries who support [an] anti-market price cap."

The United States, Australia, Britain, Canada, Japan and the 27-member European Union agreed to institute $60 per barrel price caps on Russian oil starting Monday, ABC News reported. The EU also has a ban on Russian oil shipped by sea.

Russia's response comes as OPEC+ said Sunday it would continue with current decreased oil production levels.

Oil prices are up 3% as of Monday morning, at $88.10 a barrel, according to Reuters.