Japan, U.S. finance ministers to focus on Russian oil cap

Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will meet Tuesday in Tokyo, focusing on a cap on the price of Russian oil in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

With the price cap likely to limit revenue for the Russian military, Suzuki and Yellen will also discuss steps to curb a surge in energy and food prices propelled by the war in Ukraine, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

Combined photo shows U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen (R, Getty/Kyodo) and Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki. (Kyodo)

The idea of capping Russian oil prices was brought up at a recent summit meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized nations because such a measure could put downward pressure on global energy prices.

The G-7 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus the European Union.

The department is planning to hold talks with major importers of Russian oil, such as India, as well in the following weeks to build a highly effective capping structure.

The G-7 and other like-minded countries have imposed sanctions on Russia in the wake of its military aggression in Ukraine in violation of international law.

In a roundtable session later Tuesday, Yellen and Japanese business leaders are expected to discuss ways to bolster supply chain resiliency and address the bottlenecks that are raising prices for consumers.

Yellen is visiting Japan before traveling to the Indonesian island of Bali where she and Suzuki will attend a two-day meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 major economies from Friday.

Tuesday’s talks will be their second meeting after Suzuki and Yellen met in Washington in April, at which time the two agreed to closely monitor currency movements amid the yen’s rapid depreciation against the U.S. dollar.