© Reuters. Leave the EU alone?Germany reportedly plans to embargo Russian oil by year-end
Financial Associated Press, May 17 (Editor Xia Junxiong) According to Bloomberg, citing sources, Germany plans to stop importing Russian oil by the end of this year even if the European Union fails to agree on a new round of sanctions against Russia.
German officials said Chancellor Scholz was working to reach an agreement with an alternative supplier to Rosneft, and progress had been made, and the government was confident it could resolve the remaining oil supply problem within the next six to seven months.
EU foreign ministers met in Brussels on Monday to seek agreement on a sixth round of sanctions against Russia. Although the EU proposed a draft plan at the beginning of this month to gradually ban the import of Russian oil within 6 months, due to the opposition of Hungary and other countries, the sixth round of sanctions against Russia has not yet reached an agreement within the EU.
The German official said Scholz’s government was determined to embargo Russian oil, though officials did not say which countries would fill the gap.
Russia’s share of Germany’s crude oil consumption has fallen to 12 percent from 35 percent before the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, according to data from the German economy ministry.
Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said on Monday that a consensus on a new round of sanctions had not been reached due to differences among the parties. Borrell revealed that Hungary strongly opposes sanctions against Russia in the oil sector, and EU foreign ministers will continue to discuss this issue in the next few days.
According to EU rules, the European Commission’s proposal must be unanimously approved by the 27 member states before it can enter into force. This means that if the Hungarian state persists in its opposition, the EU’s proposed sixth round of sanctions will still be difficult to come out.
Lithuania accused the EU of being held hostage by a member state. However, some member states were more optimistic, with the foreign ministers of Germany, Austria and the Netherlands saying the EU would reach an agreement in the coming days.