As delivered
Thank you, Chancellor Zahawi for coming to Washington. The United States and the United Kingdom share a very special relationship, which is strengthened by decades of close collaboration. I look forward to the opportunity to continue that tradition in our conversation today.
I also want to thank you for your leadership during a moment of political transition for the United Kingdom. Your partnership has been greatly appreciated as the United States and the United Kingdom work closely around a range of shared global objectives and priorities, and chief among them has been our united response to Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine, and the global spillover effects that have resulted from that.
In particular, the United Kingdom has been a key ally in the G7’s work to put in place a price cap on Russian oil, and I want to thank the UK for your continuing commitment to that effort- you play a leading part, especially because of the UK’s central role in global maritime insurance.
I’m really optimistic about the substantial progress that’s been made by our teams and the entire G7 for making the price cap a reality, and as I see it, the price cap will advance our two key objectives. First, reducing revenues that Putin needs to continue waging his war of aggression, and the second is maintaining a reliable supply of oil to the global market and putting downward pressure on price of energy for people in the US, in the UK, and around the world.
At a time when Russia’s war has resulted in high energy prices globally, I think a price cap is one of the most powerful tools we have to fight inflation by ensuring a stable flow of oil into global markets at lower prices.
So, critically, we also know that without a price we face the threat of a massive global energy price spike if the majority of Russian oil production gets shut in. So, once again, I really look forward to our conversation today and the opportunity to discuss the price cap and other topics. So again, welcome.