Despite European concerns about the repercussions of the Russian gas shutdown, European Council President Charles Michel announced that the European Union “sooner or later” will have to impose sanctions on the Russian oil and gas sector.
“I think action on Russian oil and gas will be needed sooner or later,” the official told MEPs during a plenary session in Strasbourg on Wednesday.
He also condemned what he described as “crimes against humanity committed in Bucha and in many other cities ” in Ukraine.
Russian oil
In turn, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced today that the European Union will impose further sanctions on Russia, in addition to the latest package announced on Tuesday, which will likely include measures against Russian oil imports.
“These sanctions will not be our last,” he told the European Parliament in a presentation of the latest package of European sanctions against the Russians.
“Now we have to look at oil and the revenue that Moscow gets from fossil fuels,” he added.
On Tuesday, the European Commission proposed to the 27 member states to stop purchases of Russian coal, which makes up 45% of EU imports, and to close European ports to Russian ships.
While the US Treasury announced it would not allow Moscow to pay its debts in dollars deposited in US banks.
Strengthening of sanctions
Today, Western countries are also expected to tighten their positions against Moscow and strengthen sanctions against it, after many bodies were discovered in recent days in the city of Bucha, near the capital, Kiev.
Interestingly, since the launch of the Russian military operation on Ukrainian territory on February 24, European countries, the United States and others have imposed thousands of painful sanctions on the Russians, but their pace has also increased since Kiev accused Russian forces of committing crimes in the vicinity of the capital before they withdrew from it several days ago.
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