The European Commission may ease sanctions by allowing the transportation of Russian coal. A number of countries oppose this.
This is reported by Bloomberg.
The European Commission has said that the transport of certain goods, including coal, "must be allowed to tackle the global food and energy crisis".
"The EU is fully committed to avoiding that its sanctions unduly affect trade in critical goods for third countries around the world," European Commission spokesman Daniel Ferri said in a statement, adding that the clarification applies to food, fertilizers, energy and more.
"Financing or the provision of financial assistance — for example insurance or reinsurance by EU operators for the transport to third countries of the goods mentioned in our guidance — should also be allowed," Ferri said.
At the same time, some EU member states, including Poland and the Baltic states, criticized these recommendations. Diplomats asked the commission to further explain the proposed move, fearing it could actually ease sanctions against Russian goods.
- The European Union and Great Britain stopped importing Russian coal from August 10. Such sanctions were introduced against the Russian Federation because of the war in Ukraine.