EU prepares oil sanctions against Russia – Germany gives up blockade position

Brussels Surprisingly, Germany gave up its resistance to oil sanctions in order to persuade Russia to back down in the Ukraine war. The EU Commission is expected to initiate the punitive measures as early as next week, according to EU circles in Brussels on Friday.

For weeks, Germany’s EU ambassador Michael Clauss had put the brakes on in Brussels and had to warn against far-reaching sanctions against Russia. The fear of the economic costs was too great in Berlin. Clauss was finally able to go on the offensive on Wednesday.

He was the second to speak in the Permanent Representatives Committee, the EU’s most important steering body. Germany will not only support an extensive new package of sanctions, the sixth in the meantime, but will actively demand it, Clauss announced.

Not only should the large Russian financial institution Sberbank be excluded from the payment service provider Swift, the time for oil sanctions has also come. The colleagues from the other EU member states looked at each other in amazement.