English Section

EU must use economy as weapon against Putin: Polish PM

31.05.2022 21:45
Poland’s prime minister on Tuesday said that the European Union must use its economy as a weapon against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.  
Mateusz Morawiecki.
Mateusz Morawiecki.PAP/Marcin Obara

Mateusz Morawiecki made the statement after a summit of EU leaders in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.

EU bans most Russian oil imports 

On Monday night, EU leaders agreed to put an embargo on most Russian oil imports in response to the Kremlin’s assault on Ukraine.     

Pipeline oil, used chiefly by Hungary, will be temporarily exempt from the ban, officials said. 

Welcoming the embargo, Morawiecki said: “Since Russia intends to subjugate Ukraine and destroy peace, we must use our most serious weapon, that is the economy, to prevent Russia’s war machine from being supplied with new resources.”

‘There can be no peace without a free Ukraine’

He added: “The people of Europe and the European Council are increasingly coming to realise that there can be no peace without a free Ukraine and that peace at all costs isn’t a satisfactory solution for the EU.”

Morawiecki told reporters: “We must renounce the illusion that the people of Europe can live peacefully in the shadow cast by Russian imperialism."

He said that Europe’s citizens and governments were becoming aware of “how vicious, brutal and bestial the Moscow regime is.”

This awareness “may change the course of the war,” Morawiecki added.

Food security

Referring to Tuesday’s discussions, which also focused on food security compromised by the war in Ukraine, Morawiecki said that “Poland is ready to do everything to widen the possibilities of transporting grain out of Ukraine.”

Tuesday was day 97 of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

(pm/gs)

Source: PAPtvp.infoconsilium.europa.eu