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- Ελληνικά
The economic and financial sanctions to be applied against Russia[/B], if Moscow escalates its stance towards Ukraine constitute the "strongest leverage available to the West, as the economy is Russia's weak point," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
Speaking on the first channel of German public television ARD, Ms. von der Leyen elaborated on the economic sanctions with which the West has long threatened Russia in the event of an invasion of Ukraine.
Such sanctions would mean that Russia would be effectively cut off from international financial markets, the Commission President said, though she did not specify whether they would include blocking it from the swift international banking system.
Ms. von der Leyen noted, however, that economic sanctions against Russia would also severely affect Western financial institutions, as it would be extremely difficult to transfer money to and from Russia.
According to the Commission President, the economic sanctions would apply to "all the goods that Russia urgently needs in order to achieve the modernisation and diversification of its economy, but which are produced by us, we dominate their production worldwide, and which Russia cannot replace." He noted Russia's strong dependence on fossil fuel exports, but also the high inflation rate of 9% recorded by the country.
The Commission President underlined the unity of the Western partners on the next steps in the Ukrainian crisis, saying that Putin tried to divide the West with disinformation, cyber-attacks and other methods, which did not succeed, but instead there is more intense dialogue than ever before.
Regarding the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, he told ARD that first the German Federal Network Agency would have to make a decision on its operation, this decision would then be submitted to the Commission and the evaluation process would begin, in which Europe's energy security would be taken into account. At least for this winter there is no problem, according to von der Leyen, as Europe can also obtain liquefied natural gas from other parts of the world in the event of an emergency. In the future, moreover, she said, it is important for Europe to be more independent of gas imports, including through a shift to green hydrogen.
Source: CNA
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