BERLIN: Germany would be able to weather an EU embargo on Russian oil imports by the end of this year even though a stoppage could result in shortages, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Monday (May 2), appearing to throw his weight behind a ban.
Two European Union diplomats said at the weekend that the bloc is leaning toward a ban by the end of the year as part of a sixth package of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. EU energy ministers will discuss the proposed oil ban in Brussels later on Monday.
“We have managed to reach a situation where Germany is able to bear an oil embargo,” Habeck, of the ecologist Greens, told a news conference. “This means it won’t be without consequences.”
Finance Minister Christian Lindner went even further, telling a German broadcaster that the German economy would even be able to stomach an immediate ban.
“With coal and oil, it is possible to forgo Russian imports now,” Lindner of the Free Democrats (FDP) told WELT. “It can’t be ruled out that fuel prices could rise.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government is under pressure to reduce Germany’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels and he has been accused of lacking leadership after his initial resistance to supplying Ukraine with heavy weapons.
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