Europe must maintain its course of gradually cutting off Russian energy supplies. The EU cannot afford to repeat past mistakes that led to energy dependence on Russia, said EU Commissioner for Energy Dan Jørgensen, as per UkrInform.
Before the EU Council meeting in Brussels, he stated that the European Union has decided it no longer wants to import Russian energy. On the eve of Christmas, the bloc adopted a law banning gas imports from Russia, Jørgensen noted.
Belgium's calls for normalization rejected
Earlier, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever had suggested normalizing relations with Russia to secure access to its energy resources.
However, Jørgensen emphasized that the EU will push forward with a ban on Russian oil, calling it a critical step.
Not a single molecule from Russia
He stressed that Europe must not indirectly help finance Russia’s brutal and illegal war. The EU had been too dependent on Russian energy for too long, allowing Putin to leverage energy as a weapon.
Jørgensen made it clear: in the future, Europe will not import a single molecule of fuel from Russia. The bloc is determined to stay the course, he added, warning that repeating past mistakes would be unacceptable.
Previously, the Ukrainian parliament had adopted an appeal to the Council of Ministers of Poland and the governments of Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Kyiv has urged them to impose a full ban on trade and transit with Russia and Belarus.
Despite existing sanctions, trade between the EU and Russia and Belarus continues to provide significant revenue for these regimes, financing their military-industrial complexes.
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