The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, explained the EU position on sanctions that threaten Russia if it attacks Ukraine. She noted that in the case of active military action, Russia would be "practically cut off from financial markets. She said this on the air of the German TV channel ARD on Sunday evening
"If Vladimir Putin starts a war, we will respond with the most powerful leverage we have: economic and financial sanctions, because the economy is Russia's weakest link. Financial sanctions will mean that Russia will be virtually cut off from international financial markets," stressed the president of the European Commission.
At the same time, von der Leyen left it open whether this means excluding Russia from the international banking communication network SWIFT. However, Western financial institutions will also suffer greatly from this, because then it will be much harder to transfer money to and from Russia, notes Tagesschau.
According to von der Leyen, the economic sanctions "will affect all the goods that Russia desperately needs to modernize and diversify its economy, but which are produced in our country, for which we have world leadership, and which Russia cannot replace. Russia's economy is very dependent on the export of fossil fuels, from which about half the national budget is fed. In addition, inflation is very high at nearly nine percent.
She explained that there is broad agreement with Western partners such as the U.S., Canada and the U.K. on these steps. Under the threat of sanctions, von der Leyen hopes to dissuade Moscow from a possible plan of attack and encourage further negotiations.
Von der Leyen makes no clear statements regarding Nord Stream 2. "First, the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) has to answer the question about the approval of the pipeline. "After that it will be submitted to the European Commission, and then we will carry out the evaluation process," she said. In addition, the security of supply to Europe has to be taken into account. In the long term, it is important to build up our own green hydrogen reserves to be less dependent on imports.
Von der Leyen, however, spoke out against the immediate imposition of sanctions, as required by Ukraine in connection with the recent escalation of violence in the east of the country, writes DW. As the European Commission chairwoman noted, the West is still giving Russia a chance to return to diplomacy and sit down at the negotiating table again. "And this window of opportunity is still open," the politician stressed. According to her, the final decision now depends entirely on President Vladimir Putin, and von der Leyen believes that Russia "listens very carefully to what we say."
