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The G7 group and its allies have officially approved a cap on the price of Russian oil, BBC News reports.

In a joint statement, the G7 and Australia said the price cap would come into force on 5 December or "very soon thereafter".

It comes after the European Union agreed on the price cap after persuading Poland to back it.

The plan, which stops countries paying more than $60 (€57; £48) a barrel, needed the agreement of all EU states.

Poland announced its support on Friday after being reassured the cap would be kept at 5% lower than the market rate.

A price cap was put forward by the G7 group of nations in September and aims to stop Moscow profiting from oil exports while avoiding a price spike.

It had been reported that the EU wanted to set the cap at $65-70 but this was rejected by Poland, Lithuania and Estonia as too high.

Warsaw had wanted the value to be as low as possible and had held out while it examined an adjustment mechanism which would keep the cap below the market rate as the price of oil changed.

On Friday, Russian Urals crude was trading at $64 a barrel.

The decision to impose a price cap was taken to "prevent Russia from profiting from its war of aggression against Ukraine," the joint statement read.