Rotterdam port, one of Europe's largest, stops all container shipments to and from Russia

The Dutch port of Rotterdam on July 21 announced that it will halt container transport to and from Russia adhering to the sanctions imposed by the EU. According to a statement on the port’s website, container transport to and from Russia were banned from transiting the port. The "persistent bottlenecks in global container logistics caused cargo to shift from large to smaller container ports," the site notified. 

EU accelerates imports from other countries

"In anticipation of the sanctions on coal and oil, less Russian coal, crude oil, oil products and LNG were imported in recent months. Companies are increasingly importing from other countries," the statement read. 

The Dutch port authorities stressed that across many segments, the war in Ukraine led to significant changes as sanctions were imposed to weaken Russia's resolve in Kyiv. Imports of both LNG and coal have risen drastically as most EU states looked for alternatives to reduce European imports of Russian gas via the pipeline, the statement, cited by TASS, read. "The throughput of crude oil increased, with oil products falling off," the statement underscored.

Earlier during his address to the Ukrainian Parliament, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte slammed Moscow for its aggression in Ukraine. "This war is about our common future," Rutte said adding that his goal is to demonstrate that the Netherlands strongly supports Ukraine's sovereignty and that the Netherlands will stand by its ally until peace is restored. Rutte had lambasted Russian forces' brutal assaults on Ukrainian soil saying that it has led to "massive chaos." Rutte called the situation "total opposite of civilization, of decency" that has caused the death of "so many people" that "it's really terrible."