The President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, announced introducing sanctions against the russian oil companies Lukoil, Rosneft, and their subsidiaries. These are the first sanctions introduced during President Trump’s second term, creating a fundamentally new situation on the global energy market.
Firstly, this is a clear signal: the US is ready to further increase the sanctions pressure on russia and is counting on synchronous actions from its partners.
Secondly, Indian and Chinese companies have already reacted to the sanctions, which are being forced to reduce purchases of russian oil, demonstrating the global scale of the impact of American decisions.
Thirdly, Ukrainian legislation provides an international legal obligation to synchronize national sanctions with those of the United States of America; therefore, Ukraine is obliged to respond to these actions of Washington.
In early January 2025, European Solidarity publicly called on the Ukrainian authorities to stop the Druzhba oil pipeline, which pumps 300 THOUSAND barrels of russian oil to the European Union daily.
Every day of delay is an additional $20 million to the war budget of the aggressor country. $20 million is equal to the cost of producing 100 Shaheds, which have become the primary weapon of the russians against the civilian population of our country. In just these 10 months, russia received an additional $6 billion, which it used for the war against Ukraine: against our children, against energy infrastructure, against Ukrainian soldiers at the front.
Now the rightness of the demands of “European Solidarity” is proven by the decision of the strategic ally – the United States – on sanctions against russia. Russian oil is a resource for war.
The oil supplied through the territory of Ukraine via the “Druzhba” oil pipeline, at least in part, comes from companies sanctioned by the United States. This is another argument for the immediate termination of transit. Ukraine cannot remain on the sidelines when even Indian and Chinese energy giants change their contracts and purchase volumes. Ignoring the decision of the United States creates real risks of secondary sanctions, including personal sanctions against the management of the “Druzhba” oil pipeline and Ukrainian officials responsible for making decisions.
The “European Solidarity” party recalls that the political basis for the necessary decisions has already been created. We have prepared the relevant draft resolutions of the Verkhovna Rada, which provide the government with political and legal support for action. This absurdity with the Druzhba pipeline must be stopped urgently. European Solidarity demands:
- Suspend the transit of russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline as part of the synchronization of Ukrainian national sanctions with the sanctions of the United States of America.
- Put this issue on the agenda of the next meeting of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and adopt the draft resolutions prepared by the European Solidarity faction.
- We plan to appeal to law enforcement agencies, in particular the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, with a demand to conduct an investigation into whether the delay or sabotage of decisions regarding the Druzhba pipeline is based on the commercial interest of individuals or legal entities. We are talking about possible profits from the diesel fuel supply to Ukraine produced in EU countries from oil pumped there through the Druzhba pipeline.