EU moves to shut out Russian coal imports

Though ban months away, agreement in bloc harder to reach on oil and gas

The European Union's 27 member states on Thursday approved a ban on Russian coal imports, but not starting till August, as part of the bloc's fifth round of sanctions over Russia's alleged "heinous crimes" in Ukraine.

The latest round of sanctions was agreed upon by the EU's Committee of Permanent Representatives, the French presidency of the Council of the European Union said in a tweet late on Thursday. France holds the presidency of the Council of the EU for the first six months of this year.

The sanctions were first proposed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday following the alleged killing by Russian troops of civilians in villages and towns outside Kyiv. Russia has denied the accusation and said those scenes were staged by Ukrainian special services.

The commission had initially proposed a period of three months for ending the existing coal contracts with Russia, but that was extended to four months, mainly due to the pressure from Germany and some other member states that are the main importers of Russian coal.

Besides an embargo on Russian coal imports valued at 4 billion euros ($4.34 billion) a year, the new sanctions include the freezing of assets of several Russian banks as well as a ban on exports to Russia, including high-tech goods in trade worth up to 10 billion euros and the closure of EU ports to Russian-flagged ships.

"This very substantial package extends the sanctions against Russia to new areas and provides in particular, sanctions against oligarchs, Russian propaganda actors, members of the security and military apparatus and entities in the industrial and technological sector linked to Russian aggression against Ukraine," said the French presidency of the Council of the EU.

Coal accounts for a small share of the roughly 99 billion euros that the EU spent on Russian mineral fuels in 2021.

During a debate in the European Parliament, European Council President Charles Michel said sanctions on Russian oil and gas are likely to be needed eventually.

"We must close the loopholes. We must target any attempt to circumvent sanctions and we are ready to move quickly," he said.

The European Parliament in a resolution adopted on Thursday calls for additional punitive measures on Russia including "an immediate full embargo on Russian imports of oil, coal, nuclear fuel and gas".

Hungary has said that it would block any EU effort to extend sanctions to Russian oil and gas.

France has supported a ban on oil and gas but indicated that it should wait for an EU-wide consensus.

"We, the French, (are) ready for a ban on the import of not only coal, which is on the table today, but also of Russian oil. Russia's most important energy revenue comes from oil,"French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire told France Info on Thursday.

But he added that building an EU-wide consensus on that measure could take time, and that it would make little sense to implement an oil ban at the national level.

Germany, which heavily depends on Russia for its energy sources, has warned that a ban on oil and gas could spark an economic recession.

Meanwhile, von der Leyen and the EU's chief diplomat Josep Borrell arrived in Kyiv on Friday for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Traveling by train from Brussels, von der Leyen told reporters the most important message she was bringing to Zelensky was that there "will be the EU path" for Ukraine.

"Usually it takes years before the EU council accepts application for membership but Ukraine did that in a week or two and I ask to move forward as soon as possible," she said.

Borrell announced during the visit that the bloc has returned its ambassador to Kyiv.

They were to meet with Zelensky before attending an event for Ukraine in Warsaw on Saturday.

Agencies contributed to the story.