Borrell: Putin will soon have to choose between weapons and oil for the people

EUROPEAN PRAVDA – SATURDAY, 30 JULY 2022, 09:12

The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, dismissed claims that the Russian economy has not yet suffered a lot from the Western sanctions, while European consumers are already feeling the brunt of high electricity bills.

Source: Josep Borrell in an interview with DW, as reported by European Pravda

In Borrell’s opinion, more important than reducing the consumption of Russian gas are efforts aimed at "breaking the ties of the Russian economy with the rest of the world."

"The Russian military machine needs not only money, but also technology," he noted, pointing to Russian tanks that use Western components. "Look at the body of a knocked-out Russian tank. And you will see how many electronic components of Western companies are there. They [the Russians] will no longer have access to them," Borrell said.

As the head of EU diplomacy noted, Russia's GDP will decrease by 10% this year, which, according to him, will lead to "the biggest recession... since the dissolution of the Soviet Union." Russian President Putin "will have to choose between weapons and oil for the people in the near future," Borrell said.

Borrell also dismissed criticism of the EU's energy policy. EU countries have cut their purchases of Russian natural gas in half since the beginning of the Russian military invasion in Ukraine, he noted.

"If before the start of the war, the share of Russian energy carriers in the EU was 40 percent, now it has dropped to 20 percent," he said.

According to Borrell, it is impossible to "require the European economy to stop buying gas overnight… we cannot create miracles."

Asked why Brussels had not imposed punitive tariffs on Russian gas to reduce the flow of funds into Moscow's military wallet, Borrell said that this proposal had been seriously considered but rejected. According to him, instead, a "firm decision" was made "to stop buying [Russian] oil from the end of the year, and now we are in the process of stopping the purchase of gas [from Russia]." He emphasised that the further reduction of Russian gas imports will happen "quickly".

Background: The high representative of the EU for foreign policy and security policy, Josep Borrell, condemned the killing of dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka, Donetsk Oblast, occupied by Russia.