European-wide sanctions should be aimed against Russian oil, not natural gas, said Latvian PM Krišjānis Kariņš during a meeting of the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LTRK) on Wednesday, 23 March.
He explained the situation is very volatile – while in the evening of 24 February, when Russia commenced its invasion of Ukraine, there were talks among European leaders about the need for sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov, a couple of days later Germany started supplying arms to Ukraine and announced plans to expand its defence budget.
«The situation is very dynamic, we may as well reach an agreement on it this Friday or Thursday. I wouldn’t say we’re close to it [embargo on natural gas], more likely we could agree on an embargo for oil, where the situation is completely different,» said the PM.
Kariņš also admitted that energy prices will definitely increase. However, at the same time it is important to keep in mind that Latvia is not the only country to experience it – it will happen in all of Europe.
The head of the government also mentioned that if Europe does not impose an embargo on Russian gas, Latvia will likely continue buying gas from this country. «I would rather there wouldn’t be any Russian gas, so that we don’t send money there, but we need energy resources. If Europe united under this embargo, we would go with it,» said the PM.
At the same time, Kariņš also stressed that Latvia is not at risk of any short-term energy problems because Inčukalns underground gas storage facility has enough gas. On top of that, pumping has commenced for the next season.
PM: Europe should aim sanctions against Russian oil, not gas
