The embargo cuts off Russian oil delivered by sea, while exempting oil imported through pipelines.

Landlocked Hungary had threatened to oppose restrictions on oil imports, a move that would have scuttled the effort that requires consensus of all EU members. European Council President Charles Michel said he expects EU ambassadors to formally endorse the embargo, which is part of a larger sanctions package, on Wednesday.

Ukrainian leaders have long called for banning Russian oil imports in order to deny Russia income it can use to fuel its war effort. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated his appeal as he spoke to the EU Monday.

Combined with pledges from countries such as Germany to phase out their Russian oil imports, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the agreement will “effectively cut around 90% of oil imports from Russia to the EU by the end of the year.”

Other parts of the sanction package include assets freezes and travel bans on individuals, and excluding Russia’s biggest banks, Sberbank, from the SWIFT global financial transfer system. The EU is also barring three Russian state-owned broadcasters from distributing content in EU countries.

EU leaders also agreed to provide Ukraine with $9.7 billion in assistance for the country’s economy and reconstruction efforts.

Luhansk fighting

Fierce fighting has erupted on the streets of the eastern Ukraine city of Sievierodonetsk, with Kyiv’s forces trying desperately to fight off the Russian onslaught.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy characterized the situation as “indescribably difficult.” In a televised speech, he described capturing Sievierodonetsk as “a fundamental task for the occupiers” and said Ukraine was doing all it could to protect the city from a Russian takeover.

Russian troops have entered the city, power and communications have been knocked out, and “the city has been completely ruined,” Sievierodonetsk Mayor Oleksandr Striuk told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

“The number of victims is rising every hour, but we are unable to count the dead and the wounded amid the street fighting,” the mayor said. Striuk said 12,000 to 13,000 civilians remain in the city that once had 100,000 residents. They are sheltering in basements and bunkers to escape the Russian assault.

Striuk estimated 1,500 civilians in the city have died since the war began, from Russian attacks as well as from a lack of medicine or treatment.

Sievierodonetsk, the last major Ukrainian-held population center in the eastern Luhansk province, has become the focus of Russian attacks as Moscow attempts to control the Donbas region after failing to topple Zelenskyy or capture the capital, Kyiv, during more than three months of fighting. Sievierodonetsk is about 140 kilometers from the Russian border.

Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian troops “use the same tactics over and over again. They shell for several hours — for three, four, five hours in a row — and then attack. Those who attack die. Then shelling and attack follow again and so on until they break through somewhere.”

In Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden said he would not send rocket systems to Ukraine that could reach Russia. Ukraine has received extensive U.S. military aid but has requested more powerful rocket systems.

Toll on journalists

Zelenskyy said in his nightly address Monday that 32 media workers had been killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

That includes French journalist Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, who died Monday near Sievierodonetsk.

French broadcaster BFM TV said the 32-year-old journalist was hit by shrapnel while reporting on Ukrainian evacuations from the area.

French President Emmanuel Macron sent his condolences to the family and colleagues of Leclerc-Imhoff, writing in a tweet that the journalist died showing “the reality of the war.”

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who was in Ukraine on Monday, called for an investigation into the journalist’s death, saying in a statement that “France demands that a probe be carried out as soon as possible.”

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

Source: https://www.voanews.com/a/eu-agrees-to-ban-majority-of-russian-oil/6596526.html

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The European Union intends to mobilize up to €300 billion ($316 billion) by 2030 to become independent of Russian energy imports, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.

“We must now reduce as rapidly as possible our reliance on Russia in energy. We can,” von der Leyen said in a speech in Brussels, presenting the EU’s plan to break away from Russian energy imports dubbed “REPowerEU.”

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Europe’s largest gas supplier, has prompted the European Union to reconsider its energy policy.

Russia supplies 40% of the EU’s gas and 27% of its imported oil. Russia has already cut off EU member states Poland and Bulgaria after they refused to pay for natural gas in rubles.

An EU ban on coal from Russia is scheduled to come into effect in August, and the bloc has said it will try to cut demand for Russian gas by two-thirds by the end of the year.

However, EU countries are still struggling to agree sanctions on Russian oil, as Hungary and other landlocked countries oppose the move amid concerns about the costs of switching to alternative sources.

How to tackle the energy crisis
To reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels, Brussels is offering a three-pronged plan including a shift to importing more non-Russian gas, faster adoption of renewable energy, and greater energy-saving efforts.

“REPowerEU will help us to save more energy, accelerate the phasing-out of fossil fuels and kick-start investments on a new scale. This will be speed-charging for our European Green Deal,” von der Leyen said.

The European Commission president mentioned energy savings as the quickest and cheapest way to tackle the current energy crisis. According to von der Leyen, the EU energy efficiency target for 2030 will be increased from 9% to 13%, and the 2030 target for EU renewable energy from 40% to 45%.

On the supply side, von der Leyen underscored diversifying energy imports away from fossil fuels and accelerating the clean energy transition. The EU 27 government leaders agreed to set up a platform for the joint purchase of gas, LNG and hydrogen, she said.

How much will it cost
The REPowerEU plan will cost up to €300 billion ($316 billion). According to von der Leyen, the sum will include approximately €72 billion ($76 billion) in grants and €225 billion in loans.

The investments will include up to €10 billion for gas infrastructure, such as missing links between member states and LNG terminals.

Up to €2 billion will be invested in oil infrastructure with a view to stopping the shipment of Russian oil.

All the rest of the financing will go into speeding and scaling up the clean energy transition, von der Leyen said.

dh/msh (dpa, Reuters)

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/eu-unveils-300-billion-plan-to-reduce-its-energy-dependency-on-russia/a-61838801

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The European Union and its Member States strongly denounced malicious cyber activities against it originating in Russia. “We urge the Russian Federation to adhere to the norms of responsible state behaviour in cyberspace”, the EU and its member states said in a statement on Friday.

The EU has accused Russia of targeted cyber attacks on several Member States. The 27-member bloc demanded that the “malicious cyber activities” stop immediately, and urged Moscow to take responsibility. The High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said in a statement issued on Friday (24 September) that “such activities are unacceptable as they seek to threaten our integrity and security, democratic values and principles and the core functioning of our democracies.”

A Russian group called Ghostwriter, which is is well-known for spreading disinformation, is considered responsible for the cyber attacks on members of parliament, government officials, politicians, journalists and civil society organizations. The hackers seek access to computer systems, personal accounts and data.

The European Union previously  sanctioned a group of Russian hackers for breaking into the computer network of the German Bundestag in 2015. Data was stolen and even Chancellor Angela Merkel’s email account was not safe.

source: commonspace.eu with agencies

Source: https://www.commonspace.eu/news/european-union-accuses-russia-cyber-attacks

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EU leaders agreed Friday to plan for sanctions against Russia but rejected a push for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

At the EU summit in Brussels, France and Germany had called for direct talks with Putin.

The proposal came after US President Joe Biden held his own meeting with Putin in Geneva, Switzerland, last week.

However, EU leaders failed to reach an agreement on such a summit. In a statement, they said that “they will explore format and conditionalities of dialogue with Russia” but did not mention a summit.

The statement also called on EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell “to present options for additional restrictive measures, including sanctions” against Russia.

“We defined again under what conditions we are prepared to work and communicate more closely with Russia… There was no agreement today on an immediate leaders’ meeting,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after meeting EU leaders.

Prime Minister Andrej Babis’ Czech Republic has been named, along with the US, as an ‘Unfriendly State’ by Russia

What did Merkel and Macron say about a Putin summit?

Merkel said the 27-member bloc needed direct dialogue with Russia because “conflicts can best be solved if you also talk to each other.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said warmer ties with Moscow were “necessary for the stability of the European continent.”

“We cannot remain in a purely reactive logic with regards to Russia,” he said.

The bloc has not held a summit with the Russian leader since 2014 amid an ongoing rift over the annexation of Crimea

What is the state of EU-Russia relations?

European-Russian ties have also been strained over the poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who is currently imprisoned in a penal colony.

But the suggestion of closer ties with Putin has already created splits in the EU and came as a surprise to some EU governments. Two senior diplomats told DW that they first learned of the plan from the media.

Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said there would be “difficulties” in seeking to build trust with the Russian government.

“The Kremlin understands power politics. The Kremlin does not understand free concessions as a sign of strength,” Karins told journalists.

The EU and Moscow have traded blows over the jailing of Alexei Navalny

Lithuania, another Baltic state, was also cool on the idea floated by Paris and Berlin.

“If without any positive changes in the behavior of Russia, we will start to engage, it will send very uncertain and bad signals to our partners,” the country’s president, Gitanas Nauseda, said.

“It seems to me like we try to engage a bear to keep a pot of honey safe,” he added.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he would boycott any direct EU meeting with Putin, citing the downing of the MH17 flight over Ukraine in July 2014.

Nearly 300 people died in the disaster, most of them Dutch citizens. A Dutch investigation blamed pro-Russian separatists for shooting down the plane.

EU to continue migration support for Turkey

Merkel also said EU leaders agreed to provide Turkey with around €3 billion ($3.6 billion) in financial aid to stem migration.

Turkey had agreed to keep migrants from reaching the EU in 2016 in exchange for financial aid from the bloc.

Turkey currently shelters 3.7 million migrants from the war in Syria.

Merkel said earlier in the week that the financial humanitarian aid given to Ankara should be shifted to socio-economic assistance, as some of the migrants in Turkey have been there for 10 years.

Hungary under fire over LGBTQ draft law

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government came under fire over legislation that banned LGBTQ content from being handed out in schools.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen this week branded the bill “a shame” that contradicts the fundamental values of the European Union and threatened to take Hungary to court.

Merkel said the EU leaders and Orban had a “very, very frank discussion.”

“We all made it very clear here what fundamental values we are pursuing” and the European Commission “will now continue to deal with the Hungarian law.”

Orban, however, remained unrepentant.

“This is not against homosexuality, any sexual interference. It’s not about homosexuals,” he said. “It’s about the right of the kids and the parents.”

Orban vowed not to withdraw the legislation.

“For me, Hungary has no place in the EU anymore,” Dutch Prime Minister Rutte said ahead of the meeting.

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said the bill broke “a fundamental value of the European Union” while Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel called it “unacceptable.”

Leaders from 17 EU countries on Thursday signed a letter slamming “threats against fundamental rights, and in particular the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation.”

The issue has been front and center of European politics this week after UEFA, Europe’s football governing body, rejected a plan by Munich to light up its stadium in rainbow colors for a Germany-Hungary match on Wednesday.

Orban had been set to attend, but he decided to skip the game that ended in a 2-2 draw and saw Hungary eliminated from the European Championship.

jf, wd/rt (AFP, AP, Reuters)

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/eu-leaders-fail-to-agree-on-a-summit-with-vladimir-putin/a-58037408

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NATO foreign ministers have vowed that the Western alliance will continue to adapt in the face of “rising threats and systemic competition,” and underlined that “Russia’s aggressive actions constitute a threat to Euro-Atlantic security.””Assertive and authoritarian powers, and non-state actors, challenge the rules-based international order, including through hybrid and cyber threats, the malicious use of new technologies, as well as other asymmetric threats,” the ministers said in a joint statement issued on March 23 after a first day of talks in Brussels.

Earlier in the day, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is attending the two-day NATO gathering – the first face-to-face meeting of foreign ministers at the Western security alliance since 2019 — said China’s military rise and Russia‘s attempts to destabilize the West were threats that required NATO to come together.

Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the State Duma, the lower house of Russia‘s parliament, called “NATO‘s statements on a threat and aggression emanating from Russia” as “yet another mantra to justify the alliance’s existence.”

In their statement, the NATO ministers reaffirmed “the enduring transatlantic bond between Europe and North America, with NATO at its heart” — after four years of doubt and concern among some allies under the previous U.S. administration of President Donald Trump, who often criticized some allies for failing to pay their fair share of the defense burden.

The ministers also committed to Article 5 of NATO‘s founding treaty, under which an attack against one ally shall be considered an attack against them all.

Noting that members of the 30-nation alliance “are making good progress on fairer trans-Atlantic burden sharing,” the NATO ministers welcomed “the efforts made by all Allies in Europe and North America that contribute to our indivisible security.”

On his first trip to Brussels, where he is also scheduled to hold talks with European Union leaders as part of U.S. President Joe Biden’s efforts to repair transatlantic ties, Blinken vowed Washington would work to rebuild and strengthen NATO.

“The United States wants to rebuild our partnerships, first and foremost with our NATO allies, we want to revitalize the alliance,” he told reporters as he met NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian welcomed Blinken’s statements, saying that NATO had “rediscovered” itself.

“There will be no European defense without NATO, and there will be no efficient and relevant NATO without Europeans,” he said at NATO headquarters.

Source: https://www.novinite.com/articles/208627/NATO+and+EU+Agree+to+Stand+United+against+%E2%80%9CAggressive%E2%80%9D+Russia

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Vladimir Chizhov, Russia’s long-time ambassador to the European Union, thinks the bloc’s decision to impose further sanctions on Russia is a missed opportunity to fix relations between the two neighbours.

Foreign ministers from EU countries agreed on Monday to punish four Russian officials believed to be involved in the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

“From our point of view, this is another chance of rectifying our relations missed. And this is another step of the relationship slipping on a downward slope,” Chizhov said in his first interview with international media since the decision was reached.

The ambassador believes EU ministers treaded a “thin line” with the new raft of sanctions, which he considers a reaction to what he calls “this wave of emotions among the liberal public opinion, which includes, unfortunately, many members of the European Parliament”.

Chizhov thinks the punitive measures were taken “not to spoil the blossoming romantic relationship with the new American administration”.

But, he continues, the package avoided substantial economic damage because it did not target the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a divisive infrastructure project unreservedly supported by Germany but opposed by many other EU countries.

“Any such decision is bad,” he adds. “Legally speaking, from the point of view of international law, sanctions is [sic] a tool which is in the hands of the UN Security Council and only that. Anything beyond that can be called unilateral restrictive measures, [which are] illegitimate by definition.”

‘Unreliable partner’

Speaking to Euronews in his office in Brussels, the ambassador tried to explain the controversial comments made by Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov during the visit of Josep Borrell, the EU’s chief diplomat.

Towards the end of their joint press conference, Lavrov called the EU “an unreliable partner” while Borrell stood silent by his side.

Chizhov says that after the 2014 Ukraine crisis, when Russia illegally annexed Crimea (a move he prefers to call an “expression of free political will”), the EU chose to freeze many of the strategic structures in place between the two sides. Conversely, the ambassador claims that Russia “has never closed any door”.

“When you have a partner that for reasons that are beyond understanding, without any proper evidence, takes decisions to introduce unilaterally restrictive measures or make statements that are hardly positive towards you, of course, you treat it as an unreliable partner.”

Despite his low expectations and critical rhetoric, Chizhov refrained from burning bridges.

“I’ve seen certain ups and downs in our relations with the European Union. Now, evidently, we are in [a] down position, but, you know, there is a Russian saying when you hit the floor, there is always somebody knocking from below. So I wouldn’t call it, the end of the relationship.”

The Russian ambassador spoke to Euronews in his office in Brussels.Euronews

Russia in a multipolar world

Chizhov is a well-seasoned expert in EU-Russia relations: the diplomat has been at the helm of the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the EU since 2005.

In his view, modern societies live in a “multipolar world” where Russia can find its own voice and allies.

“[Russia] is not developing our relations or our cooperation with anyone at the expense of others. We are open for cooperation with the rest of the world, be it the European Union, be it the United States, be it our countries further east or further south.

“But of course, in doing that, we have to keep in mind how all those countries and regions are treating Russia and whether they are prepared to take into consideration Russian legitimate national interests.”

In contrast to the state of affairs in Europe, Russia is enjoying a much better relationship with its other big neighbour, China, the ambassador says, while underlining the partnership “is not a threat to the West”.

“Our Russian and Chinese relations have had their ups and downs as well, including in my own lifetime. But today I can say that the state of [the] Russia-China relations is the best that has been happening for decades.”

“And nothing that is being said either in Moscow or in Beijing, on global issues, on international relations, can be treated like going against Europe or going against other countries.”

Asked if the two countries are on the same page when it comes to human rights, the Russian diplomat recognizes the issue is indeed guided by shared universal principles, as expressed in the UN’s 1948 declaration. However, he opposes the way in which the EU and other like-minded countries approach the topic on the world stage.

“The problem is that some countries, and unfortunately the European Union is in that category; they are substituting the notion of international law with certain rules-based world order, which is a very vague definition,” Chizhov argued.

“Who writes the rules? And who approves them? And why should the author of those rule books expect the rest of the world to abide by them?”

Source: https://www.euronews.com/2021/02/26/new-eu-sanctions-on-russia-are-a-missed-chance-to-fix-relations

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The EU has agreed to blacklist Russian officials guilty of wrongly jailing opposition figure Alexei Navalny, in a new “low” in relations.

The asset-freezes and visa-bans ought to be in force in early March, EU foreign relations chief Josep Borrell said after meeting foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday (22 February).

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EU countries are ready to impose new sanctions against Russia over the poisoning and imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Euronews has learned. A political decision is expected as early as next week.

The move comes after the widely-criticized visit of Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign affairs chief to Moscow.

The first set of EU sanctions over the Navalny case was introduced in October, targeting six individuals and one entity believed to be involved in the poisoning of the Kremlin critic. No further action has been taken since he was jailed in early February.

Speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, diplomatic sources told Euronews that there will likely be a political decision on the topic during next week’s Foreign Affairs Council.

The decision will then be referred to technical teams to prepare the lists of Russian individuals which will then be sent to EU ambassadors for review and approval. The consensus among member states is helping to speed up the process.

In the best-case scenario, the sanctions could be adopted by European leaders when they come together at the end of March.

Magnitsky Act

Brussels plans to use, for the first time, its recently established sanctions regime, similar to the Magnitsky Act in America.

This mechanism enables the 27 member states to punish those considered responsible for human rights abuses through the freezing of assets and travel bans.

However, sources note that there are still some differences concerning the approach and the form of these sanctions, stemming from the long-standing disagreements inside the bloc on how to handle Russia.

Countries like Poland and the Baltic states have always defended a hardline position and they would like the European Council to impose restrictive measures immediately.

Others, such as Germany, France, Greece, and Cyprus, which have traditionally closer ties with the Russian Federation, prefer to avoid extreme solutions and would rather have sanctions in place while keeping the channels of communication open.

Moreover, Croatia and Slovakia are eyeing a purchase of Sputnik V, Russia’s homegrown COVID-19 vaccine. Hungary is already using the jab as part of its vaccination campaign.

The Nord Stream 2 project, a gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, which is nearing completion, is another thorny question in the complex EU-Russia agenda, although no member state has so far brought it up during the ongoing discussions.

Decisions on foreign affairs at EU level require unanimity among member states, which often slows down – or altogether impedes – taking decisive action.

Last year, Cyprus blocked EU sanctions against Belarus because the bloc refused to act in a similar manner against Turkey over its activities in the Eastern Mediterranean. The fallout from that blockage, which made international headlines, led to the establishment of the Magnitsky Act-style regime three months later.

Action on Ankara is still an option, but remains stuck at technical level. A recent change in attitude by the government of Recep Erdoğan, together with the inauguration of US President Joe Biden, has lessened the sense of urgency.

Neither Cyprus nor Greece are expected to obstruct the Russian process.

“The two cases [Russia and Turkey] cannot be directly linked, but EU solidarity is a two-way street and member states which are now asking for solidarity, didn’t offer it when needed by others,” a diplomat told Euronews.

Sanctions but also dialogue

The new raft of sanctions follows Borrell’s controversial visit to Moscow, which was described as “a complete disaster” by MEPs. During a press conference alongside Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov, Borrell shocked some when he publicly said the EU had no plans to impose further sanctions.

The intervention was met with immediate criticism. Borrell later corrected himself and told the European Parliament that sanctions were still a possibility and that he would come up with his own proposal.

Borrell’s words prompted Lavrov to announce that Russia was ready to break off relations with the EU if such punitive measures were to be imposed.

Lavrov suggested the EU’s decision to admit Baltic and Eastern European members 15 years ago had contributed to the current poor state of relations.

Diplomatic sources don’t share Lavrov’s uncompromising thinking.

“We want to keep the channels of dialogue open and, for sure, there is no appetite to further push Russia [in]to the arms of China because cutting ties with the EU is increasing [Russia’s] dependence on China,” said an EU diplomat.

Regarding Borrell, the official said there was initial disappointment and surprise with his performance, especially when he didn’t strike back when Lavrov condemned the EU as an “unreliable partner”.

Nevertheless, national ministers remain united behind the EU’s chief diplomat, something they consider necessary to face the Russian challenge together.

The new US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, will take part in next week’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting, after accepting an invitation from Borrell. Relations with Russia and China will be the two main topics that EU ministers will tackle with his American counterpart.

Source: https://www.euronews.com/2021/02/18/eu-is-ready-to-impose-new-sanctions-against-russia-over-navalny

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But hold on. It is not going according to plan. There are already reports that the White House is growing increasingly frustrated with the EU. And in truth, that rift is only going to get wider and wider in the months to come.

And yet, that is just for starters. It is going to get a lot more tense from here on. There are three reasons for that. First, an increasingly mercantilist EU led by Germany is determined to put its own economic interests first. In practice, that will mean doing as much business with China and Russia as possible, despite American objections. The EU talks a lot about how it wants to craft a foreign policy, but it doesn’t seem to have much of an idea what that might consist of, apart from exporting as much of everything as it possibly can to try and keep its economy alive.

Next, the EU is turning increasingly protectionist, with an emphasis on national champions. It has embarked on a crusade against the most successful part of the American economy, the technology giants, with a series of fines, threats, and restrictions designed to curb their profits. It remains determined to promote the continent’s aerospace industry, even if that means hitting Boeing. And now with Tesla riding high, it is doing everything it can to make sure Europe’s auto giants can claw back the market for electric cars. It is hard to see how the Biden administration can do anything other than fight back.

Finally, President Biden’s big idea is for a green energy plan to dominate renewable and clean power. It is the centerpiece of his programme. But the EU is embarked on precisely the same agenda, with the bulk of its €750 billion (£650 billion) Coronavirus Rescue Fund aimed at exactly the same objective. You can’t have two global leaders in green energy. In reality, the conflict to dominate that industry will end up splitting the two sides even further.

President Biden may feel politically close to the likes of Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron. But as the EU just keeps throwing him problem after problem, the rift is just going to keep on growing.

Matthew Lynn: Matthew Lynn is a financial columnist and author of ‘Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis’ and ‘The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031’

Source: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/biden-s-rift-with-brussels-is-only-set-to-grow

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