“When you see what is happening in the Donbass, more than ever, it is necessary to stop oil imports from Russia,” said Bruno Le Maire on Europe 1 on Tuesday.
The Minister of Economy and Finance was speaking on the radio a few hours after the Ukrainian president announced the launch of a new Russian offensive in the east of the country.
"We always said we wanted a coal embargo, it's done, and an embargo on Russian oil," he argued.
“I am convinced that the reality of the situation in Ukraine will move the lines.
If, like us, we are attached to the freedom and protection of the Ukrainian people, we must go to the end of our reasoning and not finance the war” by buying oil from Russia.
Convince dependent European countries
In 2021, Moscow supplied 30% of crude oil and 15% of petroleum products purchased by the EU.
A supply on which certain European countries are particularly dependent.
Bruno Le Maire "hopes" to convince them, "in the coming weeks, that we must stop importing oil from Russia", he underlined on Tuesday.
“What is the first source of foreign currency for several years for the power of Vladimir Putin?
It's not gas, it's oil, ”assured the minister.
"To stop the import of oil from Russia is to hurt the financing of the war in Ukraine," he continued.
But in reality, such a decision turns out to be complex.
“The adoption of measures on oil requires unwinding existing contracts, finding alternatives and avoiding their circumvention.
It's not going to happen overnight.
It will take at least several months,” explained a European official involved in the discussions.
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