MEP: Russia's oil and gas revenues must be cut off
In order to harm the Russian war machine, its economy and to bring home the message of the full horror of the war that country's leader, Vladimir Putin, has unleashed on Ukraine, it is necessary to halt the flow of all revenues for Russia's oil and gas supplies, MEP Sven Mikser (SDE) says.
Appearing on an "Aktuaalne kaamera" (AK) special broadcast Monday, Mikser, who is both a former defense minister and a former foreign minister, noted that there are still some unused sanctions pertaining to the oil and gas sector.
He said: "We need urgent activity in order to reduce our collective vulnerability in this area. Sanctions are reasonable when they impact on the sanctioned rather than the sanctioneer. If we can cut off Russian oil and gas revenues, Russia's economic decline would be even faster. That will have an impact on Russia's ability to make war and impact opinion in Russia on this horrendous adventure which Putin has embarked upon."
Mikser added that for ordinary Ukrainians fleeing that country, the situation: "Will get much more serious before it gets better. The [current] situation is definitely extremely serious."
The EU should carry out three further actions to help Ukraine, he said. First: "Coordinate with the Americans. Second, give Ukraine the aid it needs to fight. Europe and the U.S. certainly have a lot of reserves here. Third, of course, provide humanitarian and economic assistance both to Ukraine and to those people who have been forced to flee Ukraine. There are already more of the latter, than the population of Estonia."
In Mikser's estimation, this time the purpose of the sanctions has been formulated very rightly, namely to weaken the Russian economy and its industrial base, adding that: "In the long run, this is a matter of whether these can bring a shift in gear on the war."
While the Nordstream 2 pipeline project was halted after Russia's invasion starting February 24, Nordstream 1, which runs under the Baltic Sea between Russia and Germany, is still in operation, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected calls to halt the imports of both natural gas and oil from Russia, citing the effects such a move would have on Europeans.
One energy giant, Shell, has announced it will no longer purchase oil and gas of Russian origin.
--
Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!
Editor: Andrew Whyte
