Indonesia is unlikely to support US efforts to lower Russian oil prices, SCMP writes. It notes that Jakarta is unwilling to take sides in the Russia-West standoff and risk its political neutrality.

The United States will turn to key Asian partners (such as Japan and India) for support in limiting the price of Russian oil. However, analysts predict that Indonesia is likely to reject lobbying attempts on the issue this week.

Earlier, US Assistant Secretary of State for Countering Terrorism and Financial Crimes Elizabeth Rosenberg visited Jakarta for a two-day visit and met with counterparts from the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investment Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center, as well as private sector executives.

Rosenberg was able to “tailgate” Finance Minister Janet Yellen, who met with G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in July. Among other things, Yellen spoke with Indonesia’s finance chief Sri Mulyani and Luhut Pandjaitan, the coordinating minister for maritime and investment affairs, and urged them to support the proposed price-cap scheme.

In addition to Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and Japan will be persuaded by the US to support the G7’s stated goal of lowering Russian oil prices, a Washington official told the English-language Indonesian newspaper The Jakarta Post.

At the June summit, G7 leaders said they would consider setting a “ceiling” on Russian oil prices to deprive the Kremlin of a source of funds for its military campaign. The price capping mechanism is expected to be ready by the fifth of December. However, analysts believe that Jakarta is unlikely to support the G7 proposal because it intends to wait and see what China and India do.

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