In the strongest response yet from the West to Russia’s military action in eastern Ukraine, European countries have initiated a series of economic sanctions aimed at deterring Putin from further escalation of violence.
There are few energy projects in the world as controversial as Nord Stream 2, and on Tuesday, it all but died in the water as Germany’s leader halted its approval process.
On Tuesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the country was halting the approval of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
The 1,230-kilometer pipeline was supposed to ferry huge amounts of Russian gas to Europe via Germany. However, it was set to add 100 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year, not to mention the inevitable leaks of methane, a greenhouse gas with more than 80 times the planet-warming power of CO2 in the short term, according to CNN.
Germany has a strong Greens presence that opposed the increased reliance on natural gas and wants to transition to renewables. Now, Europe has an opportunity to use this moment to move away not just from Nord Stream 2 but from its growing reliance on fossil gas altogether.
Here’s how other countries around the world are reacting to Russia’s actions in eastern Ukraine, per CNN:
United Kingdom: Prime Minister Boris Johnson has unveiled the “first tranche” of British sanctions on Russia, condemning Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine aggression. The UK will sanction five Russian banks and three “very high net worth” individuals, Johnson said in Parliament.
“What (Putin) is doing is going to be a disaster for Russia,” he said, predicting “pariah status” for the nation if it continues to further invade Ukraine.
European Union: The European Union will impose sanctions on Moscow following the “unacceptable” entry of Russian troops into the Donbas region of Ukraine, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Tuesday.
“Obviously we are going to initiate sanctions,” Le Drian said ahead of a meeting of European foreign ministers in Paris. “It’s a violation of international law, it’s an attack on the sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine, it’s Russia renouncing its international commitments and the Minsk accords that it had signed,” Le Drian said. “So the situation is very serious.”
Turkey: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to recognize breakaway eastern Ukrainian territories, calling it “unacceptable,” and saying it is contrary to the Minsk Agreements.
United States: After its first set of announced sanctions on Monday, the White House has said it will impose additional “significant” sanctions on Tuesday. Monday’s sanctions were cautious in nature and Tuesday’s sanctions are expected to go further but it will not be the full blow that the US has previewed, pending “further actions” by Russia.
