EU countries had been close to a deal targeting liquefied natural gas but talks fell apart at the last minute.
European Union countries failed to agree on new sanctions against Russia’s liquefied natural gas sector, according to six EU diplomats, with Germany torpedoing a deal.
The crux of the package was to ban countries from re-exporting Russian LNG from EU ports and financing planned Arctic and Baltic LNG terminals.
Belgium, which chairs EU country negotiations, was forced to split talks on the package into two separate discussions amid German opposition to new sanctions against Belarus.
The latest German blockage came as G7 leaders held summit talks in Italy, joined by top EU officials. They were expected to issue a strong statement on trade with China that would also criticize Beijing for providing so-called dual-use equipment that aids Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
The sanctions on the table were to have been a 14th package backed by EU member countries since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Berlin was worried about broadening a measure that would force EU companies to ensure their customers cannot then sell sanctioned goods to Moscow.
Previously, the so-called no-Russia clause had only applied to firearms, battlefield items and dual-use goods — which have both a military and civilian application. Germany worried its small businesses would suffer if this was expanded to more civilian products, like chemicals, or metalworking machinery.
The European Commission is negotiating with the German chancellery to convince Berlin to lift its veto, according to one of the European diplomats, who like the others was granted anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks, Politico reports.
