Ten EU countries call for ban on Russian gas imports – Bloomberg
Pravda Ukraine
A group of 10 European Union countries is calling for sanctions against Russia to be tightened by imposing new restrictions on natural gas and strengthening control over compliance with the existing oil price cap.
Source: Bloomberg
Sweden, Ireland, Poland and the three Baltic states have joined the initiative. They are proposing a ban on imports of Russian natural gas through pipelines and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the EU to reduce the Kremlin’s revenues.
Although the EU has already banned Russian oil imports, the dependence of some countries on gas from Moscow has so far prevented sanctions on gas.
Any restrictive measures require the unanimous approval of all 27 EU member states. This has proven to be a significant obstacle due to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s open scepticism of such moves.
Quote: “As an end goal, it is necessary to ban the import of Russian gas and LNG at the earliest date possible,” the countries said in a document also signed by Denmark, Finland, Czechia and Romania.
“An alternative to the full ban could be to gradually reduce the use of Russian gas and LNG as has also already been set out in the RePowerEU Roadmap.”
Details: The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, plans to present a detailed plan next month to phase out Russian energy.
However, there is growing concern in Europe about the gradual increase in gas prices caused by cold weather and new US sanctions on Russian energy.
Despite the EU’s efforts to diversify its energy sources, over €200 billion worth of oil, gas and coal has been imported from Russia since the beginning of the war. This figure was stated in a document that was circulated among other EU members by the initiating countries ahead of discussions on the latest sanctions package.
Background: Six EU countries have called on the European Commission to lower the G7’s US$60 per barrel price cap on Russian oil, arguing that this would reduce the revenues Moscow needs to continue its war in Ukraine without causing a market shock.
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