The European Union and G7 must tighten their grip on Russia’s key revenue streams from exports of fossil fuels, say 290 European, international and Ukrainian NGOs in a joint public appeal to leaders of the EU and G7. As the tragic anniversary of two years of war hits Ukraine, there is a clear need to ban Russian LNG gas imports and close all loopholes in existing sanctions to prevent further escalation of Russia’s aggression in Europe beyond Ukraine. The EU’s and G7’s financial support for Ukraine dwindles compared to the inflow to Russia’s war chest from ongoing exports of fossil fuels. It is paramount to now fully end the financing of the Russian war machine through fossil fuel imports, which is still a sad reality.
In solidarity with the Ukrainian people, civil society groups demand the G7 and EU to:
- Fully enforce and lower price caps on Russian crude oil and oil products.
- Prevent Russia from further expanding the shadow fleet of dangerous, practically uninsured and unaccountable old tankers, operating through illegal and dubious management arrangements and lacking transparency in ownership.
- Close the “refining loophole”, which allows EU and G7 countries to import oil products — mainly diesel, jet fuel and gasoline — produced from Russian oil at refineries in third countries like India, Turkey or UAE.
- Fully ban liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from Russia and its transshipment in European ports for exports to other countries.
- Take decisive actions to reduce oil and gas consumption and end import dependency to deflate the Russian war economy.
Read more from the letter attached.
