The head of diplomacy of the European Union (EU), Josep Borrell, condemned on Monday the Russian offensive on the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, at a time when several countries in the bloc are calling for sanctions against Russia’s energy sector.
Upon arrival at a meeting of European foreign ministers and defense ministers, Borrel said the Russian assault on Mariupol is a “massive war crime” because of the indiscriminate bombing.
“What is happening in Mariupol is a huge war crime, [están] destroying everything, bombing and killing everyone”, said the head of European diplomacy.
For her part, the German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, pointed out that “These are clearly and without a doubt war crimes.”
Several European ministers mentioned that the magnitude of the destruction in Mariupol justified discussions on additional sanctions against Russia, as requested by the President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelensky.
So far, the EU has adopted several packages of heavy economic sanctions against Russian officials and companies, but has resisted extending the restrictive measures to the energy sectors, especially oil and gas, due to the high level of European dependence.
“Reduce dependency”
“Given the level of destruction in Ukraine at the moment, it is very difficult, in my opinion, argue that we should not move towards [sanciones contra] the energy sector, particularly oil and coal”, declared the Irish chancellor, Simon Coveney.
For his part, Baerbock said that European countries are “Working hard to reduce our dependence on fossil fuel imports (…) and we are going to get out of the energy dependence that we have in relation to Russia.”
On Monday, Zelensky called on the EU to stop all trade with Russia, in particular energy resources.
“No euro for the occupiers, close all your doors, do not send your goods, reject energy resources,” the Ukrainian president asked.
“Without trade with you, without your companies and your banks, Russia will have no more money for this war,” he added.
In general, it is estimated that about 40% of European fuel gas imports come from Russiaand various estimates indicate that in the oil segment this dependency is greater than 20%.
Therefore, an important part of the bloc’s industrial infrastructure is supported by the availability of these energy sources, particularly Russian gas. This situation is particularly sensitive in Germany.
Among the sanctions already adopted, the EU ordered the exclusion of major Russian banks from the Swift interbank networkbut it did not include in that measure precisely the entities to which it makes the important payments for gas and oil imports.
In this context, hehe EU decided to reduce that dependency, but the transformation process may take decades, and the immediate option is to find other sources of energy supply.
This Monday, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis noted that “oil represents the most important source of income for the Russian budget, and it is easily replaceable.”
In this scenario, Belgium announced on Friday that it decided to delay its abandonment of nuclear energy by 10 years. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
