Scholz against sanctions on Russian gas and oil

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz today defended the European Union's decision to exempt the Russian energy sector from sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine, saying that Russian energy is needed until alternative sources are found.

"The federal government has been working with its partners in the European Union for months to develop alternatives to Russian energy. But this cannot be achieved overnight," Scholz said, according to Reuters.

He warned against sanctions on oil and gas, saying that Russian energy imports are essential for the daily lives of Europeans.

Let us recall, the finance ministers of the G7 countries discussed additional sanctions against Russia a week ago, which is already facing a series of measures that have "enormous consequences" for its economy, said the German Finance Minister.

"We exchanged proposals on additional measures that could be taken," said Christian Lindner after a virtual meeting, adding that decisions would be made "in the coming days" and that their goal is to isolate Russia politically, economically and financially.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Western countries have adopted a series of financial sanctions packages against Moscow, excluding Russian banks from the international payment system SWIFT, an important part of international finance.

At the same time, they adopted measures to prevent the Russian central bank from supporting the domestic currency, limiting the ruble's access to the international capital market and added the names of numerous Russian dignitaries to a blacklist of individuals whose assets abroad have been frozen.

"The restriction of the Russian central bank's operations has already exceeded our expectations (...), the ruble is in free fall and Vladimir Putin's war chest has suffered greatly," Lindner expressed satisfaction, whose country currently chairs the G7 forum (Germany, Canada, United States, France, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and the European Union).

"These measures have a limited impact on us, but the greatest possible impact on Russia," he added.