European leaders have agreed to phase out Russian coal imports as part of a new package of sanctions triggered by evidence of atrocities in Bucha, Ukraine. An oil embargo could be next.
All forms of Russian coal will be banned from the European Union, a move that the European Commission said Friday would affect about €8 billion ($8.7 billion) worth of Russian exports per year. Europe plans to wind down imports over the next four months, an EU source told CNN Business.
It is the first time Europe has come after Russia’s vast energy sector, but it doesn’t go nearly far enough for Ukraine, which on Friday repeated its called for an oil embargo after a missile strike on a railway terminal in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, killed about 30 people and injured hundreds, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“How much longer can the Europe ignore the introduction of an embargo against oil supplies from Russia?” Zelensky said.