The European Union is working on a ban on Russian oil. The news, previewed by the New York Times, marks a potentially crucial step forward in the sanctions Western countries imposed on Russia after Moscow troops invaded Ukraine.
According to the New York Times, the measure is currently being discussed, but will only end up on official tables when the French presidential elections are voted on on April 24.
In view of the particularly high costs for some countries and especially for Germany of an import ban on petroleum products from Russia, the embargo could be introduced gradually.
If confirmed, the European decision would be the second step in a strategy aimed at reducing Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels for which Europe pays Russia around €1 billion a day.
A few days ago, Europe decided to ban Russian coal. No agreement has yet been reached, neither on oil nor, more importantly, on gas.
The New York Times news comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterates his grave allegations to some European countries on the matter. Speaking to a panel of European financial experts on Thursday morning, Zelenskyy said Europe must stop sponsoring the Russian military machine by buying hydrocarbons from Moscow.
In an interview with the BBC, Zelenskyy accused European countries of continuing to buy Russian oil and spoke of money stained with other people’s blood. The Ukrainian president has questioned Germany and Hungary in particular, accusing them of blocking efforts to embargo energy sales. Some of our friends and partners understand that now is a different time, one that is no longer about business and money, but about survival, he added.
As written here, Italy imports around 40 percent of its gas from Russia. In recent weeks, however, our government has taken (and is resolutely continuing) steps to reduce dependence on Moscow: after the agreement with Algeria for 9 billion cubic meters per year, with Egypt for another 3 billion (an agreement signed by Eni and not signed by the government, due to the dispute with Egypt over the assassination of Giulio Regeni and the fact that it is virtually impossible to bring his killers to justice in Italy). Prime Minister Mario Draghi will visit Angola (Wednesday 20 April) and Congo (Thursday 21 April) for the same reason.
If the agreements go into effect, Italy will be able to replace almost twothirds of Russian supplies.
In recent weeks Moscow has unveiled a plan to force European buyers to pay for gas in rubles through a financial mechanism operated through Gazprombank, an entity linked to Russian gas giant Gazprom. Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to cut off gas supplies if the scheme is not accepted.
According to an internal European Union note reported by the Reuters agency, which is currently a technical document, preliminary and based on an unofficial translation of the Russian presidential decree of March 31, the European Union claims that the system was conceived by Putin would in any case constitute a violation of sanctions by European countries. The note underscores how the scheme devised by Putin would allow the Central Bank of Russia to retain complete control over the ruble’s price.
According to Reuters, the Dutch government will therefore instruct its companies not to pay for gas in this way, but to stick to the methods specified in the contracts (which provide for payments in currencies other than rubles). The only European country that has indicated its willingness to pay in rubles is Hungary.
Today Putin stressed that Europe is currently unable to replace gas coming from Russia (it is surprising that the “enemy countries” admit that they cannot do without Russian energy resources, including natural gas, because Europe simply does not have its substitute ) and announced that it would redirect energy exports to other markets.
In recent days, US President Joe Biden met with Indian President Narendra Modi to ask him not to increase Russia’s oil imports. India has bought at least 13 million barrels of crude oil from Russia since the invasion began, up from 16 million barrels bought in all of 2021, according to Reuters news agency.
In the last few hours, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned countries helping Russia bear the weight of sanctions that the United States and its allies will not remain indifferent.