Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States is preventing the weapons that protect the homeland.
Sheikh Qassem: The government’s latest decision [on the disarmament of the Resistance] is non-charter-based, and if the government continues down this path, it is not faithful to Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Europe's push to punish Putin fails to live up to rhetoric

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 30 May 2022 23:05
5 Min Read

Diplomats and officials are growing more concerned that the EU may have reached the limit of the short-term damage it can inflict on Russia three months after the war in Ukraine.

  • x
  • Europe's Push to Punish Putin Fails to Live Up to the Rhetoric
    Russian President Vladimir Putin 

Diplomats and officials are growing more concerned that the EU may have reached the limit of the short-term damage it can inflict on Russia three months after its invasion of Ukraine.

As the European Union's standoff over its ostensibly coming Russian oil embargo dragged on for days and then weeks, one diplomat told his colleagues, “Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it’s awful!”

Member states are failing to follow through on vows to hit President Vladimir Putin where it hurts: the rich energy sector. The spotlight has been on Hungary's unwillingness to support sanctions, while other nations are caving into Putin's demands for ruble-based gas payments.

The ugly images illustrate the EU's goal of backing severe talk with action, which requires unanimous agreement from all 27 countries.

Some leaders are reportedly pushing toward a modified deal that would allow deliveries via a vital pipeline to continue for Hungary and others ahead of a two-day meeting on Monday.

Hungary's PM today stated that there is no agreement at all regarding the EU's oil embargo on Russian oil.

The PM stated that only if energy security solutions were discovered for his landlocked nation, he would agree to the sixth package of penalties.

Read more: Budapest not to back Russian oil ban over energy concerns

Not only Orban but other companies are also going ahead with Russian gas purchases through ruble accounts, despite EU warnings.

According to Nathalie Tocci, a former advisor to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, “If we get stuck on oil, and the war drags on with no winner and no loser, we could see a scenario in which EU unity starts fraying."

Related News

Trump orders national guard expansion in Washington

Musk’s xAI sues Apple, OpenAI over antitrust collusion in AI market

She also noted the public opinion problem. “The more the war drags on, the more European societies are unwilling to endure the pain of sanctions, and that slows down the momentum for sanctions."

Read more: Scholz admits German economy suffers losses from anti-Russia sanctions

Member states have also been divided, notably between western and eastern nations, on what armaments to supply Ukraine, whether talking to Putin was worthwhile, and what terms Kiev should accept in any future peace settlement.

It will be hard

In early May, when the EU proposed the ban, the Commission's President Ursula von der Leyen stated, “Let’s be clear: it will not be easy.”

Indeed, EU countries are finding it increasingly difficult to achieve an agreement since the measures under consideration would impose greater demands on their national coffers, according to officials.

Even if it is agreed upon before or at the meeting, the sixth package of penalties has lost some of its stings. Following pressure from Greece, proposed phase-out dates have been delayed, and a prohibition on ships delivering Russian oil to other nations anywhere in the globe has been dropped.

According to persons familiar with the situation, EU nations are negotiating with the Commission a scheme that would suspend seaborne oil exports while exempting those via the massive Druzhba pipeline for a limited time.

The removal of pipeline oil would undermine the package, which also targets the banking and real estate industries. Last year, Russia delivered around 720,000 barrels of oil per day to European refineries via its major pipeline to the area. This compared to 1.57 million barrels of seaborne volume per day from its Baltic, Black Sea, and Arctic ports.

Russia's oil exports are forecast to generate almost $320 billion this year, rising more than a third from 2021.

Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren stated that "at the beginning, the unity we showed after the 24th of February was quite extraordinary,” noting that "now it's getting more difficult."

Read more: EU unity on Russia sanctions ‘crumbling’: Germany

Following oil, the EU will move to gas. It has stated that it intends to replace two-thirds of Russian gas by the end of the year and eliminate imports by 2027. According to the gas business, this may be overly ambitious.

As tensions rose over Hungary's decision to keep the EU in limbo, officials said, support for scrapping the bloc's unanimity rules on sanctions and foreign policy was growing. The unanimity concept has been recommended to be abandoned by French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

Guntram Wolff, director of the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, stated that "the unanimity requirement will eventually have to go -- it will be difficult but the EU can’t continue to operate this way in foreign policy,” adding that dropping it would allow us to be faster and bolder on sanctions."

  • United States
  • Europe
  • European Union
  • Russia
  • Anti-russian sanctions
  • russian oil ban
  • Ukraine
Russia & NATO

Russia & NATO

As the Draconian Western-led sanctions on Russia exacerbate the economic crisis worldwide, and as Russian troops gain more ground despite the influx of military aid into Ukraine, exposing US direct involvement in bio-labs spread across Eastern Europe and the insurgence of neo-Nazi groups… How will things unfold?

Most Read

Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, executive director of the defense division of the Israeli National Cyber Directorate, undated (Social media)

Israeli-born US prosecutor drops Israeli officer child sex crime

  • Politics
  • 19 Aug 2025
Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025
Launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen toward the occupied Palestinian territories. (YAF military media)

Yemeni Forces announce firing hypersonic missile at Al-Lydd Airport

  • Politics
  • 22 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime minister's office in al-Quds, Occupied Palestine, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu deliberately derailing truce with Gaza occupation: Hamas

Irish President Michael Higgins arrives to deliver his speech during a 42nd World Food Day celebration at FAO headquarters in Rome, on Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Politics

Irish president renews call for UN military intervention in Gaza

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Aukar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US envoy, Netanyahu discuss restraining attacks on Lebanon, withdrawal

Smoke billows following Israeli airstrikes in multiple areas in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Ansar Allah vow sustained Gaza support despite Israeli strikes

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS