The European bloc refused to impose an embargo on Russian gas or oil and also ruled out a tax on fuel imports, the senior official explained during a press conference at the inauguration of the new EU embassy in Santiago.
However, the initial rejection “does not mean that (these sanctions) cannot be reconsidered in view of the events and how they are developing.”
“All member states are united in a solidarity response. What happens to Poland and Bulgaria happens to the European Union,” said Borrell, who defended that “there is capacity to replace the gas supply to these countries through other sources”.
The Russian state company Gazprom announced on Wednesday the total interruption of its gas exports to Poland and Bulgaria due to its refusal to pay in rubles, a demand from Moscow that most of the countries of the European bloc reject.
The cut came almost a month after Russian President Vladimir Putin imposed that payments for Russian gas supplies must be made in that country’s currency to get foreign currency into Russia.
Payment in euros and dollars
The senior official added that “the contracts will be strictly fulfilled in the terms in which they are foreseen” and “where it is said that it is paid in euros or dollars, it will be done in euros or dollars.”