Germany Rules Out Immediate End to Russian Oil Imports

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock says  Germany will end oil imports by the end of the year, with gas following.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has criticised Germany for failing to curb Russian energy imports.

He described energy payments as “blood money”.

Proceeds from the sale of Russian oil and gas amount to around $1bn, £770m, a day, undermining international efforts to put economic pressure on President Vladimir Putin to end the war.

The US has already banned Russian oil imports and the UK plans to phase them out by the end of the year.

But according to report, European Union Countries are more heavily dependent on Russian energy, with Germany currently buying around 25% of its oil and 40% of its gas from Russia.

Mr Lindner told the newsmen that his country was working to implement an embargo on Russian energy but that he preferred using sanctions.

He said a sudden halt to Russian energy imports could see the physical shutdown of German producers such as manufacturers and carmakers.

Mr Lindner insisted that any calculation on Vladimir Putin’s part that Germany would continue to rely on Russian energy was “wrong”.
“In the end, we don’t want to have any further business with Putin,” he said.

Earlier this week, German economic institutes warned that immediately halting Russian imports would spark a sharp recession in Europe’s biggest economy by 2023.

However his stance was at odds with statements made by Germany’s foreign minister, Ms Baerbock, who is Green Party co-leader.

Ms Baerbock said Germany would halve Russian oil imports by the summer and eliminate them altogether by the end of the year, to be followed quickly by a reduction in Russian gas imports.

Germany’s finance minister was keen to sound tough on Russia and appears acutely aware of the criticism levelled at his country for dragging its feet over a full energy embargo on the Kremlin.

His basic message was – it is coming, but not quite yet, because it is impossible to enact immediately and would probably lead to shutdowns of large swathes of the German economy.

Mr Lindner said Germany would move as fast as possible, but did not confirm that would be within a year.

In Berlin this issue appears to be putting some stress on the three-party governing coalition.

Mr Lindner leads the free market FDP, not the normal bedfellows for the Social Democrats and Greens.

Meanwhile Green Party leader Annalena Baerbock, also the foreign minister, said dependence on Russian oil would definitely finish by the end of the year. The Chancellery under Olaf Scholz appears to be the most cautious on this issue.

BBC /Taiwo Akinola