In view of the oil embargo: Putin: EU commits “economic suicide”

Facing oil embargo
Putin: EU commits “economic suicide”

In response to the Ukraine war, the EU is planning an import ban on Russian oil. Kremlin boss Putin only sees the damage in Europe. The competitiveness there is already declining because of the high energy prices. The “chaotic” action, Moscow only has to make use of.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has described European energy policy as “economic suicide”. “It is obvious that with the departure of Russian energy sources from Europe to other regions of the world, there is also the possibility of an increase in economic activity,” said Putin, referring to the debate about an EU oil embargo against Russia. He made the comments today at a session on the development of the oil economy.

The energy superpower had always reacted calmly to the sanctions imposed by the West in the wake of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, including a US ban on Russian oil imports. Because Russia is benefiting overall from the high oil and gas prices. The Kremlin chief said that high energy prices are already reducing the competitiveness of industry in the EU. The country itself wants to increasingly switch to Asia.

“Surrendering Russian energy resources means that Europe will systematically, in the long term, become the region with the highest energy costs in the world,” Putin said. Europe is already losing compared to the competitiveness of other regions. This process will accelerate. Putin said that Europe ignores the damage to its own economy. It is clear that individual countries are so dependent on Russian oil, for example, that they cannot do without it permanently.

Hungary, for example, does not support plans for an EU oil embargo on Russia. For approval, the country is demanding a payment of 15 billion to 18 billion euros from the EU. Chancellor Scholz had previously expressed understanding for Hungary, but also for the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Bulgaria, who consider an exit from Russian oil by the end of the year to be premature and in some cases are calling for a transitional period of years.

Putin spoke of unthought-out, chaotic moves by some “partners” that Russia must use to its own advantage. In view of the large number of sanctions that also affect the extraction technology in oil extraction, he called for the development of a separate technical basis for this.

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