EU ‘should not’ look to Russia for energy relief, Dombrovskis says

Published on

22/05/2026 - 10:04 GMT+2

European Commissioner for the Economy Valdis Dombrovskis has said in exclusive comments to Euronews that the EU “should not” look to cheap Russian fossil fuels and gas for relief as the energy crisis persists.

“If anything, we need to strengthen sanctions against Russia, not ease, because actually Russia is a country benefiting from this conflict in the Middle East and those higher energy prices, getting substantial windfall profits, so we should not facilitate it further,” Dombrovskis told Euronews’ Europe Today programme.

On Tuesday the UK government published an open-ended licence allowing the import of diesel and jet fuel made from Russian crude oil in other countries, such as Turkey and India, where the oil is purchased at discounted prices.