Cameron calls for complete halt to Russian gas imports at Berlin summit
12 June 2024 14:14
David Cameron called on the West to turn off Russia’s gas supply. "We know what Russia has tried to do," the British Foreign Secretary said during a conference in Berlin. He also appealed for "saving Ukraine."
David Cameron urged Europe to "completely halt all imports of Russian gas." According to commentators, this was a verbal attack by the British minister on France, Belgium, and Spain. These countries, among others, still rely on Kremlin's supplies.
"They're trying to take the coking coal that is crucial for Ukraine's iron and steel industry, and they're trying to destroy the gas storage in Ukraine as well. They're going after, with toughness and precision [for] Ukraine's key assets," said the British Foreign Secretary during the Berlin Conference on Ukraine Reconstruction (Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024). According to him, Putin aims to destroy the entire energy system of Europe.
"The time has come"
In April, Reuters reported a 15% increase in imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia to the European Union. After Moscow's aggression on Ukraine, the Union did not impose an embargo on Russian gas imports. Russia sent over 17 million metric tons (approximately 17 million imperial tons) of raw material to European ports last year.
"We have rightly switched off a lot of Russian oil, but it’s time to make sure we totally switch off Russian gas into Europe as well," Cameron urged.
Cameron on Russian tankers
The British Foreign Secretary highlighted how Ukraine managed to deal with the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, making Odesa, Ukraine's most important port city, less threatened than it was at the beginning of the war.
He also emphasized that all tankers transporting Russian oil must be inspected and detained in Western ports because they pose a threat.
The Berlin conference was organized at the initiative of Ukraine and Germany. Its main goal is further mobilizing international support for the reconstruction, reform, and modernization of the country devastated by Putin’s war actions.
The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine attended the conference in the German capital.
