Diplomatic sources said that the proposal to set a price ceiling for Russian gas did not receive broad support, among the European Union energy ministers, meeting Friday in Brussels, amid concerns about the exacerbation of supply shortages.
Reuters reported that the emergency meeting of energy ministers witnessed a great deal of controversy over setting a ceiling for the price of Russian gas, as the European bloc ministers seek to find a mechanism that would allow to reduce gas prices, without endangering supplies to Europe.
The meeting aims, in principle, to reach an agreement on ways to protect citizens from the sharp rise in energy prices and prevent the collapse of energy facilities, amid Russia's gradual suspension of gas supplies to Europe in the context of the confrontation between them due to the Ukraine crisis.
According to Bloomberg, Hungary and the Czech Republic opposed the European Commission's proposal to set any ceiling on energy prices, and called for other ways to reduce the price of Russian gas.
"The price cap is a hidden energy penalty," Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Facebook while attending a meeting of energy ministers in Brussels. "We have made it clear, and we will not even talk about energy sanctions."
The Czech Republic, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, said before the meeting that it wanted to exclude discussion of an energy price ceiling from the meeting's agenda altogether.
On the other hand, some EU energy ministers want to put a cap on all imported gas prices, as well as limit the growing profits of energy companies, and try to provide liquidity to companies suffering because of rising costs.
For his part, German Economy Minister Robert Hybeck said that the European Commission had submitted executable proposals, and that the European Union's Energy Ministers Committee would present its proposals in this regard at the end of the week.
EU diplomats say member states broadly support proposals to protect electricity suppliers from collapsing due to a liquidity crunch, but that they are divided over plans to cap Russian gas prices.
Russia, which supplied Europe with a third of its gas supplies before its war in Ukraine sparked a crisis, said it would halt supplies completely if the cap was imposed.
For his part, the Speaker of the Russian House of Representatives expected, on Friday, that the West's plans to impose a ceiling on the price of Russia's exports of oil and gas will fail and that prices will rise much more than what Western countries are trying to put.
"What the G7 officials call a price (ceiling) will turn into a price bottom," Vyacheslav Volodin, the Speaker of the House of Representatives (Duma), wrote on his Telegram channel.
The ministerial talks today aim to limit the options to those that enjoy broad support before submitting official proposals, rather than reaching a final decision.
"We are in an energy war with Russia... We have to send a clear signal that we will do whatever it takes to support our families and our economies," Czech Industry Minister Josef Sekila said upon arriving at the emergency meeting in Brussels.
Energy bills, already soaring as gas demand recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, increased after Russia launched its "military operations" in Ukraine and the West imposed sanctions on Moscow. Governments are striving to reduce the price shock.
The European Commission has proposed providing emergency liquidity to energy companies facing mounting demands for guarantees, a move diplomats said was widely supported by EU governments. Some also support proposals to reduce energy demand.
Diplomats said the price cap proposal had divided opinions, with some saying it would not help as Moscow's shipments to Europe declined, and some Central European countries, which still receive Russian gas, feared losing it entirely.
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