Germany 'will not stand in way' of Russian oil embargo

Berlin says it could live with import ban despite reservations

A Russian-owned refinery in Schwedt, eastern Germany, is complicating efforts to purge Russian energy from the power grid. AP

Germany has pushed the European Union a step closer to an embargo on Russian oil by saying it would no longer block such a measure despite reservations over whether it would succeed in weakening the Kremlin.

Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck said Germany's moves to replace Russian oil since the invasion of Ukraine meant it could now withstand an embargo without the economic disaster it had feared when it initially opposed such a move.

Germany had been one of the main sceptics of an immediate oil embargo championed by countries such as Poland, who say Europe is effectively financing Russia's onslaught on Ukraine by paying for its fossil fuel shipments.

Any import ban would require unanimity from the EU's 27 members. Hungary has also spoken out against an embargo but has left the door open to allowing an oil ban to pass if there are sufficient alternatives to Russian imports.

Mr Habeck, who is responsible for energy policy, would normally represent Germany at a special EU energy summit on Monday, but a spokeswoman said his appointments had been cancelled after he tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday.

He told ZDF television late on Thursday that Germany “is not standing in the way of an embargo” and could live with the likely economic fallout if it is passed.

But he said he would have questions about “how cleverly it is imposed”, to prevent prices spiking so much that Russia actually collects more money for less oil.

He sketched out a scenario in which such an embargo backfires by throwing poorer nations into crisis because of high prices, pushing them into the arms of Russian President Vladimir Putin if he offers cheap fuel in exchange for political support.

“There are other possibilities” apart from an import ban, said Mr Habeck, without elaborating. Oil prices rose on his comments.

German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said he would have questions about any proposed oil embargo. EPA

Russia's move this week to cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria highlighted the hold that the Kremlin has over the power grids of its neighbours and prompted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to say that the “era of Russian fossil fuels in Europe will come to an end".

Gas supplier Gazprom said it had cut off the two countries because they refused to pay in roubles, a demand rejected by Ukraine's allies as a breach of contract but which has put other countries on alert for potential interruptions.

There was confusion over whether Russia's request for money to be converted into roubles at a Gazprombank account constituted a violation of EU sanctions, a point expected to be discussed at Monday's energy meeting.

EU diplomats agreed to a ban on Russian coal in a fifth round of sanctions signed off this month. But a sixth package, potentially including oil, has yet to be formally proposed after three weeks of discussions.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff said last week that the country would examine whether any EU proposals offered an alternative to Russian oil and that there were more options to replace it than there were for gas.

Ukraine wants its allies to complete the set by banning Russian gas as well, but Germany says it will take until 2024 to be independent of it, Austria says it will need until 2027 and Hungary has described debate on the issue as pointless.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi shake hands as they meet in Kyiv. AP

Floodwater edges towards homes in the small Ukrainian town of Demydiv. AFP

Lila stands inside her apartment after a missile strike damaged a residential building in Dobropillia, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Reuters

Residents board-up windows of a damaged apartment building with plywood after Russian shelling in Dobropillya, Donetsk region. AP

A police officer distributes humanitarian aid to people in Lyman, Donetsk. AP

Ukrainian soldiers near Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP

A Ukrainian soldier receives medical treatment as he and others rest after fighting on the front line for two months near Kramatorsk. AFP

Exhausted Ukrainian soldiers arrive at an abandoned building to rest and for medical treatment after fighting on the front line near Kramatorsk. AFP

Ukrainians attend a solemn religious service to commemorate the fallen in the Russian occupation in Zdvyzhivka, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

Hanna Selivon, 77, surveys what remains of her house, which she says was destroyed by Russian shelling on the outskirts of Chernihiv, Ukraine. Reuters

Women cry as they take part in a rally demanding international leaders organise a humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of Mariupol, the besieged Ukrainian city where thousands are trapped. Reuters

Angelina Jolie, Hollywood movie star and UNHCR goodwill ambassador, poses for photo with kids in Lviv, Ukraine. AP

Firefighters try to put out a blaze after an explosion in Kyiv as Russia mounts attacks across Ukraine. AP

A car parked under a tree in the partially abandoned town of Chernobyl. AP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres leave a news conference in Kyiv. AP

Military aid bound for Ukraine at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. President Joe Biden has asked Congress to agree to $33 billion to bolster Ukraine's fight against Russia. AP

Members of the pro-Russia Donetsk People's Republic militia stand guard as civilians go to receive aid in Mariupol. AP

A destroyed building in the south-eastern city of Mariupol. AP

A Ukrainian girl with other civilians on a bus as they flee the violence in Slovyansk, in the Donetsk region. Reuters

A block of flats reduced to rubble in Mariupol. Reuters

Explosions in a village near the eastern city of Izium. Reuters

A car and piled sleepers in flames after shelling near Lyman station in Lyman, eastern Ukraine. AFP

Residents and members of the Ukrainian emergency services clear debris after a recent Russian rocket attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. EPA

The Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, where spokeswoman Maria Zakharova recently said that Ukraine had either carried out the executions of civilians in Bucha itself or positioned the bodies so as to incriminate Russian forces. AFP

An aerial view of in a neighbourhood in Zaporizhzhia on the 65th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP

Clean-up crews at the site of an explosion in Kyiv, Ukraine. Russia struck the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv shortly after a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. AP

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a joint news conference in Kyiv as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues. Reuters

Russia struck Kyiv shortly after the meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. AP Photo

Volodymyr Tykhonov, 76, opens the door of his garage, which is riddled with bullet holes, in Zahaltsi, Ukraine. Getty Images

President Zelenskyy welcomes UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres before their meeting. Reuters

Iulia Shevchuk rests in a reception centre for displaced people in Dnipro, Ukraine. AP Photo

American 155 mm howitzers due to be being loaded on to a US Air Force plane to Ukraine. AFP

Smoke rises after an explosion at sunset in Kyiv. Getty Images

Ukrainian rescuers pull out a part of a rocket that remained after shelling in the eastern city of Kharkiv. EPA

Lyubov, 85, stands in front of a 19th century wooden church, damaged by rocket attack, in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine. Reuters

Ukrainian servicemen on patrol in Luhanske village. EPA

Germany's belief that it can live without Russian oil comes after a two-month scramble for alternatives which Mr Habeck said had reduced its dependence on Moscow from 35 per cent to 12 per cent.

The main remaining obstacle is a refinery in eastern Germany owned by Russian energy company Rosneft, which Mr Habeck said had no interest in co-operating on an oil embargo.

Replacing Russian gas will take longer because Germany currently has no import terminals to handle liquefied gas that is shipped from further afield. But Olaf Lies, a regional environment minister, said on Thursday that construction work on an LNG terminal in Wilhelmshaven would begin next week.

In the meantime, Germany's grid regulator said in a daily update that gas stocks were in a relatively healthy position and that Russian gas was continuing to flow through the Nord Stream 1 and Megal pipelines.

Gas stores were about 33.6 per cent full, the agency said, better than at this time last year. The European Commission has proposed mandatory minimum storage levels to prevent the bloc running out of gas.