Europe is talking about joining the Russian oil embargo

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At a series of meetings beginning Monday, EU leaders will discuss whether to dump by far the biggest supplier of oil to the region, having already committed to cutting Russian natural gas use by 66% this year.

“We have to discuss how we can support Ukraine even further, politically, economically, with humanitarian aid, security wise, everything is on the table. So we can ensure that we will do what we can to stop Putin and his aggression against Ukraine,” Denmark’s Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod told reporters. “It’s important with economic sanctions to continue along that track.”

Russia is the world’s second biggest exporter of oil, behind Saudi Arabia, and despite the chilling effect of unprecedented Western financial sanctions and an embargo announced by the United States and the United Kingdom, it continues to earn hundreds of millions of dollars a day from energy exports.

“I think it is unavoidable to start talking about the energy sector. And we definitely can talk about oil, because it is the biggest revenue to the Russian budget,” Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said as he arrived in Brussels for a meeting with his EU counterparts.

Other EU states support the idea of hitting Russia’s most valuable asset with sanctions.

“Looking at the extent of the destruction in Ukraine right now, it’s very hard — in my view — to make the case that we shouldn’t be moving into the energy sector, particularly oil and coal, in terms of interrupting normal trade in that space,” said Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney.

The European Union currently depends on Russia for about 40% of its natural gas. Russia also supplies about 27% of oil imports, and 46% of coal imports.

What will Germany do?

Earlier this month, EU leaders said the bloc couldn’t yet join the United States in banning Russian oil, because of the impact that would have on households and industries already grappling with record high prices. Instead, they said they would work toward a deadline of…

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Source : cnn