Europeans continue to free themselves from their dependence on hydrocarbons from Russia. On Wednesday, the European Commission proposed a gradual EU embargo on Russian oil and petroleum products, as the Old Continent begins to arm neighboring countries.
Heavily dependent on Russian oil and gas, Europe is getting organized to find other sources of fossil fuels within a year in the face of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, which seems to be getting bogged down.
On Wednesday, the European Commission proposed a gradual EU embargo on oil and petroleum products purchased from Russia, as a new sanctions package against Vladimir Putin’s regime.
“We will gradually abandon Russian deliveries of crude oil within six months and those of refined products by the end of the year,” European Commission chief Ursula Von der Leyen told the European Parliament.
This is the 6th round of European economic sanctions against Moscow, and it should permanently ban the import of energy from Russia, at a time when several countries such as Germany expressed their reluctance at the start , especially since Russian oil represents almost a quarter of the European Union’s oil imports.
“It will be a complete ban on imports of all Russian oil, transported by sea or by pipeline, crude and refined (…) in an orderly fashion, in a way that will allow us to put in place other supply routes”, explained the European official.
“It won’t be easy. Some states are heavily dependent on Russian oil. But we just have to work on it,” she acknowledged, adding that the aim would be to exert maximum pressure against Russia while reducing collateral damage.
After condemning the Swift inter-bank transfer system in Russia as well as 6 Russian banks, including two close to the government, the Europeans are proposing to go further by sanctioning 3 other banks, in particular the country’s largest bank, Sberbank.
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