Russia: EU bans Russian oil is to press the ‘self-destruct’ button

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak – Photo: AFP

“The decisions of the European Union (EU) to partially phase out Russian oil and oil products, as well as to ban insurance for Russian merchant ships, will most likely push prices even higher, destabilize energy markets and disrupt supply chains,” the Russian Foreign Ministry warned in a statement on June 2.

The statement has a paragraph describing the EU’s move as a “self-destruct” button action with the greatest damage being these countries, according to Reuters news agency.

“Clearly, what is the essence of unilateral measures against Russia and agreed in the name of anti-dependence on Russia will be self-destructive action for the EU,” Tass news agency quoted the statement of the Foreign Ministry as saying. Russia has a clear paragraph.

According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, it is the people of the EU, not the leadership, who will be most affected if banning Russian oil imports.

According to Novak, the global oil market will correct itself within six or eight months, so Russia will not be affected much by EU sanctions.

The EU countries had previously agreed to stop buying about 90% of all oil imports from Russia, with the exception of some landlocked countries and dependent on Russian energy.

European Council President Charles Michel described the cessation of purchases of oil and refined products from Russia as a necessary step to cut off the money that supplies Moscow’s military operations in Ukraine.

In a press conference on the same day on June 2, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia would not accept to sell oil at a loss and believed that without the EU, there would still be other markets.

When asked if Russia would “close the door” to Europe in the context of extremely bad relations between the two sides, Mr. Peskov stressed that Moscow has no intention of “slamming the door with the EU”.

According to some Western news agencies, the EU is preparing a 7th package of sanctions against Russia to force Moscow to end its military campaign in Ukraine.

Some sources say that the ban on gas imports has been mentioned but is strongly controversial within the EU. Russia is the largest gas supplier to Europe and this is also the commodity that these countries import the most from Russia.