The European Parliament Called for an Immediate Embargo of Russian Oil and Gas

In its response to the killings of civilians in Bucha, the European Parliament called on the EU Council to impose additional sanctions against Russia. MEPs called for an immediate embargo on the import of gas, oil, coal and nuclear fuel from the Russian Federation. The European Parliament has called on the EU Council to impose additional sanctions on Russia for its war against Ukraine. This is stated in the resolution adopted at the plenary session in Strasbourg on Thursday, April 7. 513 MEPs voted in favor  and 22 against, another 19 abstained, the DW correspondent reports. The reaction of the European Parliament to Bucha Although the resolution is formally devoted to the results of the EU summit, it is mainly focused on sanctions against Russia. The European Parliament paid special attention to the killings in Bucha. The resolution expresses "outrage and indignation" over "the reported atrocities, including rape and extrajudicial executions of civilians, forced displacement, looting, attacks on civilian infrastructure, in particular hospitals, medical institutions, schools, shelters and ambulances, as well as shooting at civilians trying to leave conflict zones along pre-agreed humanitarian corridors, which were committed by the Russian Armed Forces in a number of occupied Ukrainian cities, such as Bucha." The MEPs stressed that it is necessary to bring to justice both those who committed war crimes, as well as high-ranking officials and officers. The resolution notes that the EU Council should adopt further "tough sanctions that would correspond to the ongoing escalation of Russian aggression and shocking atrocities committed by the Russian army, which are undoubtedly war crimes." Immediate embargo on the import of gas and oil from the Russian Federation to the EU The resolution notes that the EU Council should adopt further "tough sanctions that would correspond to the ongoing escalation of Russian aggression and shocking atrocities committed by the Russian army, which are undoubtedly war crimes." Immediate embargo on the import of gas and oil from the Russian Federation to the EU "The European Parliament calls for an immediate and complete embargo on the import of Russian oil, coal, nuclear fuel and gas, to completely abandon the Nord Stream-1 and Nord Stream-2, as well as to submit a plan to ensure the security of energy supplies to the EU in the short term," the resolution says. This point caused a lot of controversy between MEPs. In the first version of the draft resolution, the gas embargo was added by "as quickly as possible." Three amendments were submitted to this wording. They actually repeated one another, removing the clarification. As a result, 413 MEPs voted for the amendments, calling for an immediate embargo on all four types of energy carriers from the Russian Federation. Recall that the EU is just discussing sanctions on the import of Russian coal. Refusal of oil from the Russian Federation is also considered possible throughout the year. But the European Union notes that they cannot completely replace Russian gas yet. Other sanctions against Russia that the European Parliament calls for The resolution advocates a number of other restrictions. In particular, MEPs support excluding all Russian banks from the SWIFT system. Also, according to the European Parliament, all vessels connected to the Russian Federation should be banned from entering not only EU ports but also territorial waters. This restriction should also apply to ships going to or from Russian harbors. DW