European Council prolongs restrictive measures against Russia for further six months

The European Council on Tuesday decided to extend the restrictive measures against Russia for further six months. The sanctions targeting the Russian economy will remain in effect until 31 January 2023. The sanctions, which were first introduced in 2014 in response to Russia's actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine,, have been expanded since February in view of the Russian military offensive in Ukraine. 

Notably, the EU has imposed a number of sanctions against Russia in response to Moscow's invasion of Kyiv. The EU in the "strongest" possible terms condemned the Russian offensive which it stressed breaches Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The EU called on Russia to stop targeting civilians and pull back its troops from Ukrainian territory. So far, the European Union has imposed six packages of sanctions against Russia since February 24 with the most recent one adopted in June. According to the statement issued by the EU Council, the bloc has imposed sanctions against 1,200 individuals and more than 100 entities. 

EU nations agree to reduce natural gas consumption

Meanwhile, the European Union members on Tuesday agreed to cut off natural gas consumption to protect themselves against any further reduction in supply by Russia. European Union Energy ministers agreed to lower the use of gas by 15% from August through March, according to AP. Czech Industry Minister Jozef Sikela stressed that the decision was not "easy" and added that "this sacrifice is necessary," as per the AP report. The EU energy ministers approved the legislation a day after Russian energy giant Gazprom announced that it would reduce gas supply from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany to 20% of capacity from Wednesday, 27 July. Germany's Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection rejected Gazprom's statement and asserted that there was "no technical reason" for the reduction in gas supply through Nord Stream 1.  

Ursula von der Leyen welcomes decision of EU nations 

The European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen has welcomed the decision of EU nations and called it a "decisive step" to face down the threat of a full gas disruption by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Leyen in a statement emphasised that the commitment of EU nations to reduce gas consumption by 15% will help to stock up the storage facilities before the winter season. She asserted that the decision of the EU has provided a strong foundation for the solidarity between the bloc nations "in the face of Putin's energy blackmail." Ursula von der Leyen said that the announcement by Gazprom to reduce gas supply to Europe through Nord Stream 1 for no "justifiable technical reason" shows the unreliability of Russia as an energy supplier.

Image: AP 

Inputs from AP