Germany's Scholz Says EU 'Not Ready' Yet to Put Cap on Gas Prices

MOSCOW, September 9 (Sputnik) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday that the European Union would not put cap on prices of imported gas before exhausting other options.

"We should not put the cart before the horse. We aren't ready for that at all. We are discussing what the appropriate levels could be," he told a press conference in Berlin that was also attended by EU chief Charles Michel.

Germany will assembly a high-ranking expert panel to hammer out a solution to the soaring energy prices. Scholz warned that was not as easy as it appeared because gas prices are "outside of the EU's jurisdiction."

"I think we need to work really hard on it. The important thing is that we are doing everything to push prices down," Scholz told reporters.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last week that the EU's executive would seek to put a price ceiling on Russian gas imports. Some EU members are pushing for a broader cap on all gas supplies to the EU.