German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Western sanctions on Russia are showing “effects, which will only get more dramatic every day.” However, the chancellor stressed that cutting off energy supplies from Russia must be “manageable” for European countries.
The Ukraine war “could be a longer dispute and therefore we must cope together,” Scholz said, speaking at a press conference alongside European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
Scholz said Germany’s stance on European Union-wide ban on Russian energy imports has not changed.
“This also applies to many other [European] countries who are even more dependent on [Russian] coal, oil and gas, even more than Germany,” he added.
“We decided to make us independent as quickly as possible from gas and oil imports from Russia,” the German leader said, adding that some “very intensive construction work and contracts” are necessary to make Germany less dependent on Russian energy.
Metsola said, “Europe must become completely independent from [Russian energy].”
“We must buy our energy from friends, not enemies, because at the end we are paying for this war every day,” she added.
“It is time to take a lead. We are not only talking about the green agenda, considering it from the environmental perspective, a climate perspective, but we are also seeing it from a perspective of security,” Metsola continued.
Live updates: Russia invades Ukraine
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