Russia seeks to once again weaponize oil – White House

The corresponding statement was made on Friday by the U.S. National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby, Ukrinform's own correspondent reports.

"Once again, Mr. Putin is willing to weaponize energy," the official td a briefing on Friday.

He emphasized that such steps on the part of the Russian Federation “don’t come as a big surprise.”

"And it just shows you the lengths to which he’s willing to use resources like energy as a — again, as a weapon,” added Kirby.

Read also: EU agrees on price caps for Russian petreum products

He also noted that the United States would continue to work with allies and partners to balance supply and demand in the global energy market.

The White House official emphasized that the United States still believes Putin must not be allowed to “profiteer in an inapprriate way off of the oil he puts on the market so that he can then fund his military in the field.”

As reported, the G7 countries and the Eurean Union introduced price caps on Russian oil and petreum products in order to affect the Kremlin's ability to finance its war machine. This step is also aimed to avoid shortages and price spikes in the global energy market.