Zelenskyy says fresh EU sanctions should block Russia’s energy revenues

Kyiv, May 3 (EFE).- Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the European Union needs to adopt fresh sanctions against Russia to prevent billions of dollars in energy revenues everyday from being used to finance the war in Ukraine.

The president, in a video address to the nation overnight, said that Ukraine was currently working with international partners on new sanctions against Russia, and a new package could be expected from the EU in the near future.

He stressed that this package should include clear steps to block Russia’s energy revenues.

“We really believe this will be done, so that the terrorist state isn’t given a billion euros a day for fuel,” Zelenskyy said in his address.

The European Union is looking to go past its reluctance to sanction Russian oil in retaliation for cuts in gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, after these two countries refused to pay for their purchases in rubles.

At an extraordinary meeting of energy ministers on Sunday, the governments of Germany and Austria, so far reluctant, expressed their readiness to adopt a new sanctions package that includes the purchase of crude oil from Moscow, leaving Hungary as the only country that still rejects it.

The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Spain’s Josep Borrell, was optimistic on Monday about the sixth package of sanctions against Russia getting approved.

This is expected to hit more Russian banks outside the SWIFT system and would affect Russian oil imports. EFE

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