European Council President Charles Michel stressed today, Wednesday, that the European Union “sooner or later” must impose sanctions on the Russian oil and gas sectors, denouncing what he described as “crimes once morest humanity” committed in Bucha.
“I think that sooner or later measures on Russian oil and gas will be necessary,” Michel told European lawmakers during a plenary session in Strasbourg.
He claimed that what is happening is not a “special operation”, as Russian President Vladimir Putin says, “but rather war crimes,” noting that the European Union is helping to collect evidence with the aim of “transferring those responsible for these crimes to justice.”
For her part, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen explained that European sanctions “are important because they affect Russia more than us,” and added, “We have banned coal, but now we have to address oil and the income that Russia earns from these fossil fuels.”
The European Commission had proposed to the 27 member states a fifth package of sanctions once morest Russia, which mainly included stopping its purchases of Russian coal, which constitutes 45 percent of EU imports, and closing European ports to Russian ships.
However, a possible embargo on Russian oil, which accounts for 25% of all European purchases, and Russian gas, which accounts for 45% of EU imports, are subject to tough discussions among member states, while Berlin has publicly expressed its reservations.
In turn, German Chancellor Olaf Schulz announced that his country would reorganize the import structures of coal, oil and gas so that it would not be dependent on Russian imports.
Schultz added: “We will now expand the oil reservoirs on the northern coast of the country very quickly, adding that we must remain our goal that Russia does not win this war.”
He considered that the current government has decided to hand over weapons to Ukraine, and this is an important decision that we have taken quickly.
“The security guarantees for Ukraine are discussed in secret with Kyiv, and we must first settle the issues related to the guarantees,” Schultz said.
In a different context, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said last Monday that Germany cannot do without Russian gas supplies at the present time, and that the sanctions imposed on Moscow in this sector will harm the European Union more than Russia, while the Baltic countries have stopped importing Russian gas since early April. /April.
Also, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg announced his opposition to the ban on gas supplies coming from Russia, calling on European countries to adopt other methods.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stressed that “if Russia asks that we pay for gas in rubles, we will do so, and we will see how our policy with Russia should be determined, and we do not know whether the hostile policy will continue.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry, through Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko, announced that Moscow is preparing a response to the proposed fifth package of European sanctions once morest Russia, stressing that “retaliatory measures will be taken” and “appropriate measures” will be developed to protect his country’s interests.
