Greenpeace environmental activists are staging an operation against the ship Ust Luga, which reportedly will unload Russian oil at the port of Aasgaardstrand, Norway, on April 25. (Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB / AFP / Getty Images)
The United Kingdom has imported nearly 2 million barrels of Russian oil since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, according to data released by Greenpeace on Wednesday.
Shipments worth a total of 1.9 million barrels worth approximately $ 276 million entered the United Kingdom despite numerous international sanctions against Russian business designed to weaken the Kremlin’s military machine, Greenpeace said.
“A total of eight tankers have delivered Russian oil to the United Kingdom since Russia first invaded Ukraine on February 24, an average of one each week,” Greenpeace said in a statement.
The UK government has banned Russian ships owned, operated or flying the flag from entering the UK. However, Russian fossil fuels can still be dumped in Britain through tankers owned and designated by other nations.
“The UK government is no stranger to hypocrisy, but the promise of ‘unwavering support’ for Ukraine while delivering nearly 2 million barrels of Russian oil is completely dishonest, even by Boris Johnson’s standards,” said Georgia Whitaker, an oil activist. and gas at Greenpeace UK.
Downing Street has said it will phase out Russian oil imports, but only by the end of the year.
“Despite the growing death toll, the UK government has given itself until the end of the year to stop importing blood oil from Russia,” Whitaker added.
“Sanctions do not work until they are implemented and another eight months of oil and gas imports are eight months too long. “It is clear that we need an explicit and immediate ban on all Russian fossil fuels,” Whitaker said.
A spokesman for the UK government said: “We will phase out Russian oil by the end of the year and imports of Russian liquefied natural gas as soon as possible.
“The United Kingdom has no problems with gas or oil supplies, and unlike Europe, we are not dependent on Russian energy imports,” he said.
On Monday, Greenpeace activists chained themselves to the anchor of a Russian oil tanker heading for a Norwegian port, urging the Scandinavian nation to stop importing Russian fossil fuels.
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