The European Union will step up its pressure on Moscow with a gradual ban on oil imports and new sanctions in order to “make Vladimir Putin pay a high price” for his war against Ukraine, the President of the European Commission announced on Wednesday. .
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, an outspoken supporter of the war against Ukraine, is among the new personalities on the EU blacklist along with the family of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov and many soldiers suspected of war crimes in Boutcha, according to the proposal consulted by AFP.
“We are thus sending another strong signal to all those who are waging the Kremlin war: we know who you are, and you will have to account for your actions”, launched Ursula von der Leyen during the presentation of the main lines of this sixth set of sanctions against MEPs meeting in Strasbourg.
The proposal was sent overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday to the Member States called upon to validate them.
It must be approved unanimously. Names can be withdrawn and proposals toned down, a diplomatic source explained.
The stated objective is an entry into force for the celebration of the 72nd day of Europe on May 9. This date is also celebrated in Russia as “Victory Day” over Nazi Germany.
The Commission advocates “a ban on all Russian oil, crude and refined, transported by sea and by pipeline,” von der Leyen explained.
The sanctions also hit the financial sector with the exclusion of the most important Russian bank, Sberkank, which represents 37% of the market, and two other establishments of the international interbank sector Swift.
” Not easy “
“It won’t be easy,” admitted the president of the European executive. But “Putin must pay a high price for his brutal aggression,” she said to applause.
The EU has already decided to stop its coal purchases and has found other suppliers in the United States for a third of its Russian gas purchases.
The halt in oil imports will be “gradual and orderly, so as to establish alternative supply routes and minimize the impact (of this decision) on world markets”, she said. .
“The EU should give up deliveries of crude within six months and of refined products by the end of the year,” von der Leyen said.
Several countries are “highly dependent”, she acknowledged. A derogation is proposed to allow Hungary and Slovakia to continue their purchases from Russia until the end of 2023, because these two countries are landlocked and totally dependent on deliveries by the Druzhba pipeline due to lack of connections with the rest of the world. EU, two European officials told AFP.
Hungary on Wednesday regretted the absence of a “guarantee” for its energy security.
“Each new sanctions package against Russia is more difficult to adopt because it imposes political choices on each member state. Unanimity is necessary and nothing is guaranteed for its adoption”, underlined one of the European leaders.
The Europeans pledged in March at a summit to rid themselves “gradually” and “as soon as possible” of their dependence on Russian gas, oil and coal.
In 2021, Russia supplied 30% of crude and 15% of petroleum products purchased by the EU. It supplies 150 billion m3 of gas annually.
“Diversifying energy sources, supplies and mixes takes time and requires infrastructure,” emphasizes Eric Maurice, director of the Schuman Foundation in Brussels.
But European purchases are financing Russia’s war effort, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi reminded the European Parliament on Tuesday.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, European imports of gas, oil and coal have brought in 44 billion euros for the Kremlin, indicates a study by Crea, a think tank based in Finland. The four main buyers are Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and France.