Fianna Fáil MEP, Billy Kelleher has said that the latest European Commission sanctions proposal against Russia are weak and do not go far enough.
“The objective of sanctions should be to cripple the ability of the Russian State to fund their illegal invasion of Ukraine. To date, that hasn’t happened, and I firmly believe the latest round of sanctions won’t make it happen.
“The latest round of sanctions only includes a ban on the importation of Russian coal. The European Commission has only said that it was working on banning oil imports and there is no mention of a commitment to ban Russian gas.
“We are skirting around the issue. We are only tinkering on the edges rather than dealing with the substantive issue. European countries are buying Russian gas that is delivering up to €700 million into Russian coffers every day. Oil and gas imports from Russia amount to €100 billion per year, compared to only €4 billion of coal imports per year. Until we shut that off, Russia will be able to fund their immoral and illegal war.
“We must stop the Russian State’s ability to fund this war. Following the horrors exposed and horrific mass graves unearthed at the weekend, I really do not understand how the European Commission and the European Council -the national governments of 27 member states - cannot understand the absolute need to move to the most extreme sanctions possible. These atrocities merit the full might of the sanctions available to the EU.
“Member States, especially Ireland, must make it clear that we must go further than what the Commission has proposed. I believe discussions will take place over the next number of days between Ambassadors, and I hope that Member States impose even stricter sanctions on Russia,” concluded Kelleher.
