Due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Europe is trying to find a way to stop paying the aggressor $850 million a day for energy supplies. Sanctions are clearly not enough, so a full boycott on imports from Russia is under serious consideration. 53% of total Russian oil exports were consumed by Europe before the war. The EU is the largest consumer of Russian raw materials that also pays market price for them, unlike China that had discounts from Russia. Part of the sixth package of EU sanctions, the oil embargo, represents the most impactful penalty the bloc has imposed on Russia since the start of Ukraine’s war on 24 February and has the potential to deprive the Kremlin of one of its most reliable sources of income.
The EU has been focusing for weeks on how to wean itself off Russian oil and gas. It has already pledged to reduce gas imports by two-thirds by the end of 2022 and now plans to phase out crude oil over six months and refined products by the end of 2022. Yesterday the EU proposed some of its toughest measures yet against Russia, including a total ban on oil imports and sanctions on war crimes suspects. Russian crude oil would be phased out within six months, Ursula von der Layen said. Hungary has rejected the proposal as unacceptable and the Czech and Slovak governments want a transition period.
Will the EU reach consensus to give up Russian oil and gas? In Ukraine in Flames #56 energy experts prove it should. Europe’s energy independence from the Kremlin is a guarantee of security for the entire European continent.
Speakers:
- Olena Pavlenko, President of DiXi Group
- Valeriia Izhyk, Senior Energy Expert in Ecoaction
- Leonid Unigovskyi, Director General of NAFTOGAZBUDINFORMATYKA Ltd.
UKRAINE IN FLAMES project is created by Ukraine Crisis Media Center, Ukrainian Catholic University’s analitical center and NGO “Euroatlantic Course”. We are aiming at searching a loud support for Ukraine in the war started by Russia on the 24th of February 2022.
If you want to support Ukraine against Russian aggression, check the link with recommendations by Ukraine Crisis Media Center – https://uacrisis.org/en/help-ukraine.
NGO Euroatlantic Course collects donations to support Ukrainian Army and civilians – https://eac.org.ua/en/main-page/.