Germany has said it “will not stand in the way” of an EU ban on Russian oil imports despite resisting the move for weeks due to financial fears. Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck acknowledged that the move “will not be painless”, but said his country had made contingency plans to reduce its dependence on Russian oil. “We will no longer experience a national catastrophe,” he told German media. Germany was reluctant to support an embargo because of its heavy dependence on Russian energy, although other EU nations have pressured the Bundestag to tighten sanctions on Vladimir Putin’s regime. Any import ban would require the unanimous approval of the 27 EU members.
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Mr Habeck said that while he supported the embargo, there would still be questions about how to enforce it “smartly” to prevent a sharp rise in prices affecting the poorest countries. Earlier this week, Mr Habeck said Russian oil’s share of German imports had fallen to about 12 percent, from 35 percent before the invasion. Moscow has been accused of “gas blackmail” after threatening to cut off supplies if “unfriendly” countries do not make payments in both euros and rubles. Russian supplier Gazprom cut off gas supplies to Poland for a short time on Tuesday, but deliveries have now resumed. Polish Climate Minister Anna Moskva told the country’s Polsat News radio station that the bloc should completely ban Russian gas purchases, but said Austria, Germany and Hungary were opposed to the move. EU countries currently import 40 percent of their gas from Russia, but Brussels has announced plans to reduce it by two-thirds within a year. The United States has announced a complete ban on imports of Russian oil, gas and coal, while Britain has said it intends to phase out Russian oil by the end of the year, with gas to follow as soon as possible. In other news, Russia fired two rockets into Kyiv on Thursday night, hitting a residential building and injuring at least 10 people. Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the blasts hit the central Shevchenko district.
