Germany shows its willingness to support EU oil embargo against Russia: Report

Amid the mounting sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the German Foreign Minister stated that his country is willing to support a gradual, European Union (EU)-wide blockade on Russian oil imports. "We are preparing this in such a way, that we could if necessary keep it up over the coming years," minister Annalena Baerbock told ARD TV, DW News reported. Her remarks came a day after Germany's Economy and Climate Ministery stated that Berlin hopes to be completely independent of Russian crude oil imports by the end of the summer.

"Russian oil imports were essentially reduced to the remaining quantities required by the refineries in Leuna and Schwedt - that's only about 12% in total. Complete independence from Russian crude oil imports by late summer is therefore realistic," the ministry wrote in a Twitter post. It further stated that hard coal imports from Russia have already been reduced from 50% to around 8% since the beginning of the year. The German ministry further outlined that new sales contracts for hard coal from Russia were prohibited, while procurement from other countries has been accelerated at the same time. 

Several countries reduce their reliance on Russian energy supplies

Ukraine and other nations, notably the Baltic states, have reduced their reliance on Russian energy supplies, putting pressure on Germany to follow suit. Meanwhile, EU energy ministers are expected to meet in Brussels on Monday to decide how to respond to Russia's move to cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria. Last month, Russia's energy giant, Gazprom, cut off natural gas supplies to two European Union countries - Poland and Bulgaria - after they declined to pay for the gas in Russian rubles. 

Germany begins preparing to halt Russian gas supplies

Meanwhile, as concerns over payment terms mount, Germany has begun making preparations for a possible halt in Russian gas supplies. On April 28, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that measures to reduce Germany's reliance on Russian energy imports had been in consideration for a long time, even before President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine. It should be mentioned here that the EU has also warned Russian gas buyers that converting payments into rubles could violate sanctions. 

Image: AP