European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday laid out plans to stop buying Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), stating "it is time to turn off the tap," as she unveiled the EU's 19th package of sanctions against Moscow.
"Russia's war economy is funded by fossil fuel revenues. We want to reduce these revenues, so we are prohibiting inputs to Russian LNG to European markets. Time to turn off the tap," von der Leyen said in an audio message.
The declaration comes after US President Donald Trump appealed to the countries of NATO to desist from purchasing oil from Russia and to sanction those countries that persist in energy commerce with Moscow.
This new sanctions package will for the first time take on cryptocurrency platforms. "We are ratcheting up our efforts to counter circumvention. As evasion becomes increasingly sophisticated, so too will our sanctions to stay one step ahead. For the first time, our restrictive action will strike crypto platforms. And ban transactions in crypto currencies," von der Leyen stated.
She reassured Europeans that the restriction would not cause energy shortages. "We are ready for this. We have been conserving energy. We have been diversifying supplies. We have been investing in low-carbon sources of energy. Then we have set the crude oil price cap at 47.6 dollars," she said.
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