EU ministers fail to decide on sanctions against Russian oil

Brussels, Belgium | Xinhua | European Union foreign ministers did not decide on sanctions targeting Russia’s oil and gas, EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said on Monday.

Addressing the media following a meeting of the EU’s foreign ministers in Luxembourg, Borrell said that although no decision was taken, “nothing is off the table, including sanctions on oil and gas.” Last year, the bill for oil was four times that of gas “so it is important to start with oil.”

He noted that these sanctions would cause an “asymmetric shock” between EU countries since central and eastern European member states are “heavily dependent” on Russian energy imports.

“We continue discussing how to implement these sanctions to avoid any kind of loopholes. We measure the impact these sanctions are having on the Russian economy, and we will continue discussing in order to see what else can be done,” he said.

Borrell rejected Russian officials’ claims that the growing food shortage is due to sanctions on Russia. Instead, he accused Russia of “provoking hunger in the world.”

“Stop blaming the sanctions. It is the Russian military causing food scarcity,” he said, adding that there is a “big number of ships” carrying agricultural exports that cannot leave Ukrainian ports.

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Xinhua