Yellen Heads to Asia to Cap Russian Oil Prices

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to Asia next week to meet with officials from Japan, South Korea and other G20 economies to seek support for a price cap on Russian oil, the Treasury Department said Friday.

Yellen's trip, her first to the Indo-Pacific region as treasury secretary, comes at a time when there are questions about how well a price cap on Russian oil would work without the support of India and other countries that buy cheap Russian oil. Yellen will hold bilateral meetings in Tokyo on July 12-13, followed by a meeting with Group of 20 financial officials in Bali, Indonesia, on July 15-16 and a day of talks in Seoul on July 19, the Treasury said in a statement. The trip is part of a broader effort to "reemphasize America's regional and global leadership role," expand support for sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine, and strengthen efforts to respond to an increasingly assertive China, the Treasury said. The United States and the other Group of Seven countries - Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, France, Italy and Japan, as well as the European Union - agreed last week to impose a ban on the transportation of Russian oil sold above a certain price in an effort to reduce Moscow's revenues and drain its war budget. As the European Union prepares to impose a phased embargo on Russian oil and a ban on marine insurance for all tankers carrying Russian oil, Yellen sees the cap as a way to keep oil flowing and prevent a price spike that could lead to a recession.