The US move comes at a time when the Europeans are under pressure to target their sanctions, Russia’s vital energy sector, by banning the import of gas, oil and coal.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan noted that discussions between Western countries currently include potential “energy-related” measures, a sensitive issue for Europeans who rely heavily on Russian gas.
So far, countries that rely heavily on Russia for energy supplies, such as Germany, Austria and Italy, have refrained from extending sanctions to gas or oil, resisting calls from Poland and the Baltic states as well as the United States.
Ongoing discussions
Regarding the European Union’s intention to impose sanctions on the Russian energy sector, Union spokesman Luis Miguel Bueno said, in statements to “Sky News Arabia”, that “the European Union has previously imposed sanctions on the Russian energy sector, banning the export of oil equipment and other exports of refining technologies.” to Russia, which made the process of improving refinery capabilities more difficult for Moscow.”
Bueno indicated that the union also prevented European companies from injecting new investments in this strategic sector to Russia.
He added, “The possibility of imposing more sanctions on this sector among the member states of the European Union will be discussed in the coming hours.”
Earlier this week, the Baltic states decided to stop importing natural gas from Russia, in an effort to put pressure on Moscow to reverse its military escalation in Ukraine, and not respond to its decision to pay for gas in rubles.
Analysts and energy experts believe that the decision of the Baltic states comes as a first stage of the sanctions that European countries intend to impose on the Russian energy sector, especially with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to take advantage of his country’s status as a major source of energy resources.
Commenting on this, an EU spokesperson said, “This is a sovereign decision taken by these EU member states, but the EU as a whole has not yet reached such a decision.”
European pressure
On the Baltic countries’ decision to ban Russian gas, economic analyst and head of the Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies Ika Korhonen said, “It is just the first part of the next wave of European sanctions against Moscow. European future.
Korhonen said in statements to “Sky News Arabia”, that the trend of some European countries to ban Russian gas “will make a complete ban to some extent possible.”
He pointed out that this decision will be painful for the Russian economy, as Moscow will get less export revenues, and it will not be able to sell this gas anywhere else at the present time, nor will it be able to build pipelines or operate LNG stations.
While the United States banned the import of Russian oil and gas, the European Union continued to receive Russian gas, which constitutes about 40 percent of its supplies.
In this regard, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht demanded that the European Union discuss the ban on Russian gas, although other officials urged caution about measures that could lead to a European energy crisis.
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