European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday called for the international price cap on Russian oil exports to be lowered to $45 per barrel as part of an 18th EU sanctions package on Moscow.

The oil price cap was introduced in 2022 by the Group of 7 (G7) advanced Western democracies, intending to force Russia to sell oil for a maximum of $60 per barrel.

The measure is aimed at reducing one of Russia’s most important sources of income, in order to limit the country’s ability to continue its war against Ukraine.

“Oil exports still represent one-third of Russia’s government revenues. We need to cut this source of revenues,” von der Leyen told journalists in Brussels.

Since the cap was introduced, prices have gone down, meaning that oil is now traded “very close to the cap level,” she said.

Lowering the cap would restore its effectiveness, von der Leyen stated.

The commission president added that setting a new price limit for Russian oil exports was on the agenda of a G7 summit in Canada later this week.

In May, von der Leyen announced that the European Union was to impose additional sanctions on Russia after Moscow rejected calls for a complete and unconditional 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine.

EU countries must unanimously agree to sanctions proposed by the commission.

In addition to a lower oil price cap, work was under way on further restrictive measures on Russia’s banking and energy sectors as part of the bloc’s new sanctions package, von der Leyen announced.

To further restrict Russian oil imports, the commission plans to impose sanctions on 77 vessels suspected of being part of Moscow’s so-called shadow fleet, bringing the total of targeted ships to over 400.

These often uninsured ships with murky ownership help Moscow evade Western oil price caps.

The commission has also proposed to ban imports of refined products based on Russian crude oil, von der Leyen said.

“In this way, we want to prevent that some of the Russian crude oil reaches the EU market through the back door,” she said.

The new set of measures is to also include transaction bans for the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines.

“This means that no EU operator will be able to engage directly or indirectly in any transaction regarding the Nord Stream pipelines,” she said.

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline delivered Russian gas to Europe until summer 2022 before it was damaged by explosions. Nord Stream 2 never entered into service after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Sanctions on the inoperable pipelines are intended “to dissuade any interest, and notably interest from investors, in pursuing any activity on Nord Stream also in the future,” according to the commission.

Targeting the Russian banking sector, the commission aims to “transform the existing prohibition to use the Swift system into a full transaction ban,” von der Leyen said.

The transaction ban is to apply to another 22 banks under the plans.

In addition, the commission proposed export bans worth more than €2.5 billion ($2.86 billion) on industrial goods like machinery or chemicals as well as on technology used for producing drones or missiles.

“With this package, we step up pressure on Russia,” von der Leyen said.

“Our objective is very clear. We are reiterating the call for a full unconditional ceasefire of at least 30 days.”