Costa, von der Leyen to G7 leaders: “This is not the moment to relax sanctions on Russia”

Both leaders announced this on X, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

They thanked Emmanuel Macron, President of France, for organizing the call with G7 partners to discuss a coordinated response to the alarming situation in Iran and the Middle East.

“We are focused on minimising the impact on security and the global energy market,” Costa and von der Leyen stressed.

They reminded G7 leaders that an urgent priority is ensuring energy flows, including safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, which is critically important for the global economy.

“Enforcing the oil price cap will help stabilise markets and limit Russia’s revenues. This is not the moment to relax sanctions on Russia,” the EU leaders wrote.

Costa and von der Leyen also welcomed today’s decision by the International Energy Agency to make 400 million barrels of emergency reserve oil available to ease tensions in global energy supply.

“We agreed to work closely with partners in the region to prevent broadening of the conflict and restore stability,” both leaders wrote on X.

Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that sanctions against Russia were imposed because of its aggression against Ukraine and that lifting them would mean legitimizing that aggression.