Topline
Russian officials on Tuesday dismissed the European Union’s partial ban on oil imports from the country as part of a new wave of sanctions, while leaders in the regional bloc acknowledged they had to make some key compromises to allow the latest embargo to go through.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (R) and President of the European Council Charles … [+]
Key Facts
In its sixth sanctions package against Russia since its invasion of Ukraine, the European Union pledged to cut “almost 90%” of all Russian oil imports by year-end, including an immediate ban on two-thirds of such imports.
Mikhail Ulyanov, Moscow’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, tweeted Russia will “find other importers” for its oil, adding he believed the EU was not in “a good shape.”
While the leadership in Brussels hailed the sanctions, the group had to agree to a special exemption from the ban for Hungary—along with Slovakia and the Czech Republic—following its very vehement opposition to the move.
Hungary’s pro-Putin Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a Facebook video (translated by Reuters) a total ban would have been “unbearable” and an “atomic bomb” for his country’s economy and they have successfully managed to avoid that.
According to CNN, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer expressed support for the ban admitting it will be “certainly be painful” for Europe, however, he pushed back against the notion of a similar ban on gas, noting that finding a substitute for oil is much easier.
While Washington is yet to officially react to the new sanctions, former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul called it “progress.”
Chief Critic
Ulyanov, in a more threatening tweet, asked: “If the EU is so eager to cut off the major part of Russian oil supplies by the end of the year, why [can’t] Russia . . . decide to meet the European aspirations much earlier as a friendly gesture?” By banning gas supplies to Poland, Bulgaria and Finland, Moscow has shown its willingness to bear some economic pain to cut off fuel supplies to Europe.
Tangent
In a possible sign of retaliation against the sanctions, Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom on Tuesday suspended gas supplies to the Netherlands for failing to adhere to its demands for payments in rubles and has threatened to do the same against Denmark. In a statement reacting to the suspension of supplies, Dutch gas supplier GasTerra said it has decided “not to comply with Gazprom’s one-sided payment requirements.” The company said such a move risked breaching the EU’s sanctions against Russia and there were additional risks in operating a bank account in Moscow that would be under the control of the Russian regime.
Big Number
27%. That is the percentage of Russian oil that made up the European Union’s overall oil imports for 2021, the bloc disclosed in April.
Further Reading
EU leaders agree to ban majority of Russian oil imports (Financial Times)
‘Best we could get’: EU bows to Hungarian demands to agree Russian oil ban (Reuters)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2022/05/31/we-will-find-other-importers-russia-reacts-to-eus-partial-oil-ban/