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Polish PM wants EU embargo on Russian coal

"We want to stop the war, to stop the aggressor," Morawiecki said at a press conference after the meeting. "We can do it only through sanctions."
Radek Pietruszka/PAP

Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister, has said he had appealed to the European Union to impose an embargo on Russian coal over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Morawiecki met the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, in Brussels on Tuesday, the sixth day of the Russia-Ukraine war.

“We want to stop the war, to stop the aggressor,” Morawiecki said at a press conference after the meeting. “We can do it only through sanctions.”

The EU, the US and a number of other countries have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia, but energy commodities, a major source of income for Moscow, have been excluded due to Europe’s extensive dependence on supplies from Russia.

“The Russian economy has been hit hard and it is suffering huge losses,” the prime minister said. “But make no mistake, the same economy is being fuelled every day… by sales of coal and gas.”

Morawiecki said he had discussed ways to free Europe from dependence on Russian coal with von der Leyen.

“I have appealed for a ban on Russian coal transports (to Europe), to impose an embargo on Russian coal,” Morawiecki said.

“And not to purchase oil and gas (from Russia) over the next months… as those (commodities) help Putin finance his war machine,” the Polish prime minster added.

Russia attacked Ukraine on Thursday, but the invasion appears not to be going to plan. The military operation, which the Kremlin likely wanted to be very swift, is now in its sixth day and no major Ukrainian city has been captured yet. Thousands have died in the conflict so far, including more than 500 civilians, according to the UN.

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