Ahead of the Ukraine Peace Summit, European Union (EU) nations encountered a hurdle in their efforts to impose new sanctions on Russia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector. Germany, according to six EU diplomats, was the primary factor behind the deal’s collapse on Friday. Politico reported that the package’s central objective was to prohibit the re-exportation of Russian LNG from EU ports and the financing of planned Arctic and Baltic LNG terminals. “In the past, we were accustomed to blaming… Hungary, but now it’s Germany,” a diplomat explained to the news outlet, alluding to Hungary’s history of impeding such packages. Belgium, the current chair of EU country negotiations, was compelled to divide discussions on the package into two separate sessions due to German opposition to additional sanctions against Belarus as well. The recent opposition from Germany emerged amid discussions on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict by world leaders at the G7 Summit in Italy. Germany’s motivations for obstructing the sanctions were rooted in its concerns that the proposed measures would require EU businesses to ensure that their customers did not sell sanctioned goods to Moscow. Previously, the “no-Russia clause” was limited to firearms, battlefield items, and dual-use goods—those with both military and civilian applications. However, Berlin argued that extending such restrictions to civilian products could harm small businesses if applied to items like chemicals or metalworking machinery. According to EU diplomats who spoke to Politico, the European Commission is actively negotiating with the German chancellery in an attempt to persuade Berlin to rescind its veto. The impasse coincides with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz navigating an internal rift within his three-party, center-left coalition. As the peace summit commenced, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock remained uncertain about Berlin’s position on the sanctions package. Nevertheless, she advocated for harsher measures against Belarus during a press conference. “We must intensify our efforts against the circumvention of sanctions that we have witnessed in recent months,” stated Baerbock, whose Green party supports stricter sanctions. “This applies primarily to Belarus.” With additional inputs from agencies.
