EU reached limit of capabilities to impose sanctions on Russia: Borrell
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The West's economic warfare against Russia has been too brutal for the European Union to catch up, as the bloc's foreign policy chief asserted that Brussels could not ban imports of Russian energy supplies.
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European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell
The European Union has reached the limit of its capabilities to impose financial sanctions on Russia, the bloc's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said Thursday in light of the wave of Western sanctions on Russia over its special military operation in Ukraine.
"With regard to financial sanctions, of course, you can always go further, but we have already reached the limits of what we can do. We did everything we could", Borrell told France Info.
The bloc, Borrell stressed, "must avoid going to war with Russia because otherwise, it would be the third world war."
"For the United States, it's not too difficult because they consume almost no Russian oil," he explained, which was revealed by Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier today when he said supplies of Russian oil to the US "do not exceed 3%."
"Saying 'I won't do what I'm not already doing' doesn't have much merit," the European official underlined.
Biden, in a bid to paralyze the Russian economy, went on and banned imports of Russian oil to the United States. The move was later backed by the United Kingdom and Canada, which also banned Russian oil, liquified natural gas, and coal.
Following Biden's announcement of the ban, crude and nickel prices skyrocketed reaching an unprecedented peak as concerns over Russian supply escalated.
Borrell said the sanctions Brussels had already imposed on Moscow were "very tough," asserting that they caused the Russian ruble to lose about 40% of its value.
Borrell had listed Wednesday the new sanctions his bloc imposed on Russia, which included 160 individuals, targeted crypto-assets, the Belarusian banking sector, and the export of maritime navigation technology to Russia.
The Kremlin received the fresh sanctions with condemnations, saying they were an "unprecedented economic war" the West was waging against Russia.
The West's stance against Russia makes the situation in the energy sector very complicated, Moscow said, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov underlining that Russia must do whatever is in its best interests to win the war.
With gas prices on the hike, Biden's administration has been looking for ways to unlock more oil supplies in the global mark to ameliorate the gas prices.
Biden has initiated or intends to open negotiations with Saudi Arabia, which has been experiencing tensions with its crowned prince, Venezuela which is under draconian US sanctions, and possibly Iran after a nuclear deal is struck in the coming days.
