They [les représentants de la Commission européenne] are working to ensure oil is part of the next round of sanctions against Russia
explained Simon Coveney, head of Irish diplomacy, on his arrival for a meeting with his counterparts in theEU in Luxemburg.
” The European Union spends hundreds of millions of euros to import oil from Russia, and all of this is certainly financing the war effort. This funding needs to be cut […] The earliest would be best. »
Dutch and Lithuanian representatives have also shown interest in this kind of sanctions targeting oil from Russia, which constitutes about a quarter of the crude imports of theEUto force the Russians to end their campaign of bombing Ukrainian cities.
The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, echoed these proposals, noting that an embargo on oil must be imposed. sooner or later
.
The European Parliament voted in favor of an embargo, but this position is not binding.
No consensus
Galvanized by what Ukraine calls a senseless massacre of civilians perpetrated by the Russian army since the start of its invasion on February 24, theEU passed a fifth set of sanctions last week, including an end to coal imports.
Russia categorically denies these allegations in connection with its special operation
demilitarization and denazification
from Ukraine.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, indicated last week that she was also considering additional sanctions inspired by proposals from the various governments of Europe, such as the imposition of tariffs or an outright ban on certain products. .
The President of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen (archives)
Photo: Reuters/Yves Herman
Any embargo will depend on technical details on the scope of such a measure and, above all, the support of all Member States.
The degree of dependence varies enormously from state to state – Bulgaria, for example, depends almost exclusively on Russian petroleum products. Moreover, Hungary has already argued that it does not support an oil embargo.
The position of Germany, Europe’s leading economyEU, will be crucial for the future. Its Minister for Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbock, called on the Union to equip itself with a coordinated plan to completely phase out fossil fuels
Russians, but diplomats have noted that Berlin does not actively support an immediate embargo.
Russia and the United States have already decided to end their imports of Russian oil.
