Reuters reports Russia’s president said it was impossible for some European countries to quickly ditch Russian oil. They quote him saying:
Obviously, some EU states, in whose energy balance the share of Russian hydrocarbons is especially high, will not be able to do this for a long time, to ditch our oil.
Speaking at a televised meeting with domestic oil managers and government officials, Putin also said that western sanctions and a possible embargo on Russian oil had resulted in an increase in global oil prices. He also said that western sanctions had stoked inflation across Europe itself.
At the same time, the Polish president Andrzej Duda told a joint media conference with his Hungarian counterpart Katalin Novák that Hungary would struggle to diversify its energy supply.
“Please remember that it will be hard for the Hungarians to diversify if European recovery funds remain blocked,” Duda said, adding that he hoped a sixth package of EU sanctions on Russia could be agreed on.