EU leadership backs ban on Russian coal imports, silent on gas

The European Union’s executive branch has proposed a ban on coal imports from Russia in what would be the first sanctions targeting the country’s lucrative energy industry over its war in Ukraine.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the EU needs to increase the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin after what she described as the “heinous crimes” carried out around Kyiv.

Von der Leyen says the ban on coal imports is worth 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) per year. She adds that the EU has already started working on additional sanctions, including on oil imports.

Von der Leyen doesn’t mention natural gas. A consensus among the 27 EU member countries on targeting gas that’s used to generate electricity and heat homes would be more difficult to secure.

The EU gets about 40% of its natural gas from Russia and many EU countries, including Germany — the bloc’s largest economy — are opposed to cutting off gas imports.

Teresa Ribera, Spain’s Minister for Ecological Transition, says it is “very hard” for the EU to sanction Russian natural gas because some of the bloc’s countries are dependent on it for their energy supply and that the EU’s strength lies in its unity.

“It is very difficult to explain to European public opinion and Ukrainian society that we are still importing Russian energy that finances this war,” she says, adding that energy imports create “obvious moral tension.”