The basic idea is that [[the West]] (G7, EU, [[U.S.]], etc.) wanted to curtail the income that Russia was receiving from the sale of a valuable commodity. In other words, a group of customers were going to stipulate the price of the crude, with no negotiation between themselves and the supplier. That might work if the buyers were the only buyers in the marketplace. The West was confident that they could pressure all of the other buyers worldwide to “fall in line” with their decree. The West was also confident that they could prevent surreptitious behavior of [[market]] participants, i.e., those who might buy Russian crude and mix it with other crudes to mask the identity of the Russian crude. | The basic idea is that [[the West]] (G7, EU, [[U.S.]], etc.) wanted to curtail the income that Russia was receiving from the sale of a valuable commodity. In other words, a group of customers were going to stipulate the price of the crude, with no negotiation between themselves and the supplier. That might work if the buyers were the only buyers in the marketplace. The West was confident that they could pressure all of the other buyers worldwide to “fall in line” with their decree. The West was also confident that they could prevent surreptitious behavior of [[market]] participants, i.e., those who might buy Russian crude and mix it with other crudes to mask the identity of the Russian crude. |