The European Commission wants to do without Russian gas a year earlier than expected. A little over four months ago. This Friday, in the proposal of the nineteenth sanctions package against Russia for invading Ukraine, proposes to shorten the deadline: as of January 1, 2027.
The movement comes after the president of the United States, Donald Trump, increasing 100% tariffs of third countries that buy these raw materials. A proposal that put the point of view to China and India. A country, the latter, to which Washington.
Cash from energy sales keeps Russia’s war going.
So we’re going after these revenues by designating 118 new vessels as shadow fleet and enablers, and banning re-insurance of listed vessels.
Our aim is to speed up the phase-out of Russian liquefied natural gas by 1 Jan 2027.
– Kaja Kallas (@kajallas)
She has not been the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who has announced this detail of the new sanctions package: it has been the high representative for the EU foreign policy, Kaja Kallas, which has specified it in a message on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Brussels finally opts for the traditional sanction mechanism of the last three years: buying less and less oil, natural gas and other raw materials in Russia, which leads to look for other suppliers, something that benefits, above all, to the United States, which also exports this type of fuel.
This is clearly seen with the data of the EU itself. In 2021, before the invasion of Ukraine, 45% of all the gas that reached the Union came from Russia and 6% of the United States; In the first eight months of this year, the percentages have changed significantly, 12% and 26%. Only Norway, with 31% of the entire market, exceeds US imports of this fuel.
The proposal must now be approved in the EU Council by the Member States. It will not be easy, as it has been clear with the negotiation of disconnection for the beginning of 2028. Several countries, including Spain, are putting enough problems to approve. The problem, they argue, is that this drastic measure can lead to serious problems to European energy companies that have signed long -term contracts, beyond 2027 or 2028, with Russian firms.
“The Russian war machine is based on income from fossil fuels. We want Below the average price to which the oil of the urals usually traded.
The head of the Community Executive has also explained that in this new package of sanctions that launches the number of sanctioned ships of the fleet in the shadow of which Moscow is used to export their fuels is extended, 118 new ones are added until at least 560 are added, according to the numbers provided by the German.
The cryptoactives have become a tool through which Russia raffles the sanctions practically since they began to launch in February 2022, when Russian aggression began to Ukraine. Brussels is aware of this. On the other hand, it has taken three years to raise the first measure to avoid it: “For the first time, our restrictive measures will affect cryptographic platforms and prohibit cryptocurrency transactions,” added von der Leyen.
From Brussels it is still defended that the sanctions against Russia. The president of the Commission has even linked the high inflation of the Euroasymatic giant with these measures. “Interest rates are in 17%,” he specified. The ECB maintains the official price of money in 2%. However, the most appropriate comparison with homologable countries such as the other BRICS: India keeps it at 5.5%; China, in 3%; And Brazil is the only one that approaches Russian levels, with 15%.
