Poland claims EU has started work on seventh package of sanctions against Russia amid war

European Union has begun work on seventh pack of sanctions against Russia, Poland's Foreign Ministry claimed on June 4. According to Poland's Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski, restrictions are expected to disrupt Russian gas supply and widen list of banks that will be cut from international financial system SWIFT. sanctions are most likely to have an impact on Gazprombank. He went on to say that a ban on techlogies that Russia may employ in industry, as well as confiscation of all Russian assets in EU, are both necessary.  

Pawel Jablonski said, "Sanctions should be even tougher — in context of gas that Russia can still sell, in context of disconnecting all Russian banks from SWIFT system. I am talking mainly about Gazprombank."

On April 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered that payments for Russian gas deliveries to "unfriendly" countries be made in rubles. Moscow has said that ruble accounts with Gazprombank are required. Some nations, including Bulgaria, Poland, and Finland refused to pay under new plan, prompting Russia to cut off gas supply. EU officially confirmed implementation of sixth pack of sanctions against Russia on June 3.

EU Sanctions against Russia

Until date, EU member states have imported 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and 1.2 million bpd of oil products from Russia. Amid skyrocketing price of oil, Russia earns more than $1 million every day, as per reports. EU nations have decided to prohibit importing any oil from Russia that arrives by sea, excluding almost two-thirds of total.

y will continue to import Russian oil by pipeline for time being. This will benefit nations like Hungary and Slovakia. However, Germany and Poland, which also import Russian oil via pipeline, have stated that y will cease doing so by end of this year. 

According to EU President Ursula von der Leyen, this will essentially lower EU's oil imports from Russia to 10% or 11% of ir existing level.  EU has also stated that it will stop importing Russian coal by August. EU, however, is less er to put restrictions on Russian gas because it relies on Russia for roughly 40% of its gas needs. Moreover, alliance vowed in March to lower gas imports by two-thirds within a year, but additional action has been agreed upon.

Im: AP