The Kremlin said on Monday that Europe would be hit hard in the event of an embargo on Russian oil, affecting the continent’s energy balance, but not the United States.
Some European Union foreign ministers are pushing for an oil embargo as part of a possible fifth round of sanctions against Russia in an effort to punish Moscow for the events in Ukraine.
“Such an embargo would seriously affect the global oil market, it would greatly impact the energy balance on the European continent,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a daily conference call.
Diplomats have said that a Russian chemical weapons attack on Ukraine, or a heavy bombing of its capital Kiev, could be a trigger for an energy embargo. Russia says it targets military, not civilian, infrastructure.
Russia itself has warned that EU sanctions on Russian oil could lead to it closing a pipeline to Europe. For now, the 27-nation EU, which depends on Russia for 40% of its gas, with Germany among the most dependent on the bloc’s major economies, is divided over how to deal with the energy issue.
“Americans would remain as they are and feel much better than Europeans (in the case of an oil embargo). That would be difficult for Europeans – such a decision would affect everyone,” Peskov said.
EU needs to impose sanctions on Russian oil, ministers to divided bloc say
The European Union must step up sanctions on Russia to hit its lucrative energy sector, the Lithuanian and Irish foreign ministers said on Monday, as a week of intense diplomacy aimed at approving more measures against Moscow.
The European Union and its Western allies have already imposed a series of sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, including freezing the assets of its central bank.
The humanitarian crisis in the besieged port city of Mariupol is increasing pressure on Europe to do more.
“Looking at the extent of destruction in Ukraine right now, it’s very difficult to argue that we shouldn’t get into the energy sector, particularly oil and coal,” Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said ahead of a meeting of EU ministers. .
But targeting Russian oil, as the US and UK have done, is a difficult and divisive choice for the 27 EU countries, which depend on Russia for 40% of their gas.
Diplomats told Reuters the Baltic states, including Lithuania, were pushing for an embargo as the logical next step, while Germany, which heavily relies on Russian gas, is warning not to act too quickly because of already high energy prices. in Europe.
“It’s inevitable that we start talking about the energy sector, and we can definitely talk about oil because it’s the biggest revenue in Russia’s budget,” said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.
Source: CNN Brasil
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