EU split on Russia oil sanctions, mulls other steps
FILE PHOTO: European Union flags fly outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman
BRUSSELS: The European Union foreign ministers disagreed on Monday on whether and how to slap sanctions on Russia’s lucrative energy sector over its invasion of Ukraine, with Germany saying the bloc was too dependent on Russain oil to decide an embargo.
The EU and allies have already imposed hefty measures against Russia, including its central bank’s assets.
Russia’s seige and bombardment of Maripoul port, which EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borell called a “massive war crime”, is increasing pressure for action.
NATO chief says Russia may use chemical weapons
But targeting Russian energy exports, as the United States and Britain have done, is a divisive choice for the 27-nation EU, which relies on Russia for 40% of its gas.
Some of those who want the EU to go further showed impatience at the pace of talks after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
“Why should Europe give Putin more time to earn more money from oil and gas? More time to use European ports? More time to use unsanctioned Russian banks in Europe? Time to pull the plug,” Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Twitter.
But Borell told a news conference that while that the bloc would “continue islolating Russia”, concrete decisions would be made later.
One EU diplomat said some hoped that by June the EU would have found enough alternative sources of energy to seriously consider an oil embargo. No date has been agreed though, and other EU states may have different targets in mind.
Germany and the Netherlands said the EU was dependent on Russian oil and gas and could not cut itself off right now.
“The question of an oil embargo is not a question of whether we want or don’t want (it), but a question of how we depend on oil,”German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told reports.
Germany’s ministers caution against banning Russian energy imports
“Germany is importing a lot (of Russian oil), but there are also member states who can’t stop the oil imports from one day to the other,” she said, adding that the bloc should instead work on reducing its reliance on Moscow for its energy needs.
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