On March 7, 2022, German Chancellor Scholz said that despite Russia's military operations in Ukraine, Germany will continue to buy gas, oil and coal from Russia.

The European Commission wants to present a plan for a quick decoupling from Russia on March 8, the United States is also considering an oil embargo, and Germany wants to continue importing energy from Russia. German Chancellor Scholz made a clear statement on the 7th that it is impossible to completely eliminate the import of energy from Russia in the short term.

Scholz explained: "There is currently no other way to ensure the supply of heat, transport, electricity and industrial energy in Europe. Energy from Russia is vital to the daily life of citizens. This is why Europe is interested in supplying energy to Excluded from sanctions.” For months, the German federal government has been discussing alternatives to Russian energy with its partners, and Scholz admitted: “This will not happen overnight. So we decided to continue to work with Russia on energy. Cooperation in the supply field.” German Finance Minister Lindner also said before that stopping energy imports from Russia is certainly one of the options for sanctions: “But at the moment, it is best not to take this step.”

Germany is highly dependent on Russia for fossil fuels. According to figures released by the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs, Russia's share of Germany's fossil and natural gas imports is around 55%, coal imports around 50% and crude oil imports around 35%. Within the EU, about 40% of natural gas imports come from Russia. Editor/He Yuting