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The European Union should end its dependence on Russian oil, members of a German delegation said Tuesday after a visit to Ukraine, according to a report.
“This is possible within a few weeks because there are other providers,” said Anton Hofreiter, member of the Bundestag, who, according to Reuters, visited Kyiv.
He added that the EU ban on coal imports from Russia, due to come into effect in August, is too slow.
Michael Roth (R), chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, speaks during a Bundestag session in Berlin April 6, 2022, with the debate centering on civilians found dead in the Ukrainian city of Bucha. (Photo by JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images)
Michael Roth, chairman of Germany’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said a ban would send a strong signal to Russia.
Germany is Europe’s largest economy and oil exports are Russia’s main source of income.
RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE: LIVE UPDATES
“Russia attacks Ukraine +our common values,” Roth tweeted Wednesday morning after the visit to Ukraine. “A terrible state of emergency. The tragic situation lies in the fact that we are wrestling with one another. But there is only one enemy: that is Putin’s Russia. We must stand united against it. Division only helps Putin.”
Co-Chairman of the Greens parliamentary group, Anton Hofreiter, delivers a speech during a session of the Greens’ state council on October 2, 2021 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Omer Messinger/Getty Images)
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said Germany could end its dependence on Russian oil by the end of the year and the EU is preparing proposals for a ban, but nothing has been decided.
Germany has reduced its share of imports from Russia by 10% since the invasion at the end of February: from 35% before the war to 25%.
ATTENTION: GRAPHIC PHOTO
Volunteers load bodies of civilians killed in Bucha onto a truck to be taken to a morgue on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, for examination, Tuesday, April 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
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US President Biden last month announced a ban on Russian oil, but Germany and other European countries are more dependent on Russia, and polls have shown German people are unwilling to risk higher prices and supply shortages, according to Reuters.
Just 30% of respondents to a recent survey in Germany said the country should stop Russian imports immediately.