Ukraine urges complete energy embargo on Russia

BRUSSELS — Ukraine continues to demand an oil and gas embargo against Russia after the country’s invasion, Ukraine’s foreign minister said Thursday, while the European Union (EU) promised a fifth round of sanctions before Friday.

Dmytro Kuleba will address NATO’s 30 allies, as well as the European Union, Finland, Sweden, Japan, New Zealand and Australia, in a special session of foreign ministers to maintain international support for sanctions and arms supplies.

“We will continue to push for a complete oil and gas embargo,” he told reporters at NATO, along with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

“I think the deal Ukraine is offering is fair. You give us weapons, we sacrifice our lives, and the war is limited to Ukraine,” he said.

In particular, Mr Kuleba called on Germany to accelerate arms deliveries to Ukraine and asked for aircraft, land-based anti-ship missiles, armored vehicles and air defense systems. He said the procedures in Berlin were taking too long.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who offered to hold another meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Berlin in May, said she would discuss more arms sales to Ukraine with allies in Brussels on Thursday.

After more than 40 days of war, Ukraine says Russia continues to shell its cities, especially in the eastern regions of Kharkov, Donetsk and Luhansk, after Russian forces withdrew from Kiev.

Moscow calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation.”

Stoltenberg warned on Wednesday of a war that could last for months or even years, and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken pledged to support Ukraine for the longer term.

Outrage over the killing of civilians in the Ukrainian city of Bucha near Kiev appears to have sparked Western support.

But while a potential EU ban on Russian oil and gas would cut off an important source of revenue for the war in Moscow, it would also hit Europe’s economy and drive rising gas prices.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said an agreement would be reached on Thursday or Friday on a fifth package of EU sanctions, including a coal ban. “We have taken a progressive approach. Now we are accelerating,” he told reporters.

Canadian Foreign Secretary Melanie Joly said further Western sanctions, including an energy embargo, could not be ruled out after the United States and Britain announced new measures on Wednesday against Russian banks and members of Mr Putin’s family. .

Australian Foreign Secretary Marise Payne told NATO that Australia imposed sanctions on 67 Russians over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. † Reuters