Estonia's EU rep: Work underway to end Russian gas, oil purchases
The European Commission is working on ending the purchase of Russian oil and gas even though new sanctions announced Tuesday did not touch on it, head of the European Commission Representation in Estonia Vivian Loonela has said.
"You are, of course, asking where the end of the oil and gas purchases is — work is underway, not all Member States agree yet. Estonia's proposal is helpful here, where European countries would not directly pay Russia, but into a special account set aside for this, from which part of the money is already set aside for the reconstruction of Ukraine," she said.
She said sanctions proposed by the Commission will be discussed between the Member States tomorrow and will then hopefully take effect.
"At the same time, the Commission will continue to work on the next steps, as 62 percent of Russia's exports to the EU before the war were fossil fuels — so it is clear what needs to be done next," Loonela added.
The Commission put forward proposals on Tuesday that ban imports of coal; deny Russian ships access to EU ports; block access to Russian and Belarusian haulage companies transiting the EU; ban more Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system; and sanction additional officials.
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Editor: Helen Wright
