Casablanca – As Russian troops launch further attacks on eastern Ukraine and the blockaded Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol, the EU announced today that it will impose an oil embargo on Russia.
“Today, we will propose to ban all Russian oil from Europe,” the European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen told the chamber in Strasbourg, vowing to minimize the damage to the European economy.
The sanctions should involve “a complete import ban on all Russian oil, seaborne and pipeline, crude and refined,” Von der Leyen added.
The goal of these oil sanctions is to “make sure that we phase out Russian oil in an orderly fashion, in a way that allows us and our partners to secure alternative supply routes and minimizes the impact on global markets,” she underlined.
The sanctions proposals will be discussed by the EU’s 27 member states.
Read also: Ukraine War: Russia Intensifies Assaults on Azovstal Steel Mill
As the EU advocated a phased oil embargo against Russia, von der Leyen insisted in a speech at the European Parliament that “Putin must pay a price, a high price, for his brutal aggression.”
Although the EU envoys held preliminary talks today regarding the potential oil boycott on Russia, no agreement was made and the group remained divided.
A number of EU countries that are largely reliant on Russian oil imports, notably Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Bulgaria, voiced concerns about some other member states’ gung-ho approach to the proposed oil embargo.
Bulgaria’s deputy prime minister, Assen Vassilev, said that his country will seek an exemption from the impending sanctions that will cut off Russian oil imports.
Hungary and Slovakia also requested an exception, noting they will continue to purchase Russian crude oil under current contracts until the end of 2023.
The European Union’s decision to prohibit Russian oil will certainly cause enormous dilemmas and friction among member states, but many observers and more determined EU member states expect the proposed sanctions will be implemented if influential EU nations such as Germany demonstrate sufficient commitment.
Despite being one of the countries with a history of heavy reliance on Russian oil, Poland has emerged as the most vocal advocate of the “de-Russification” of Europe’s energy market.
“I hope that by… May at the latest we will have completely exited Russian coal,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki insisted in remarks made a month ago. “We will do everything to stop using Russian oil by the end of this year.”
