G20 summit may not be able to resolve all global issues but can take bold steps: EU
climate change, fairness in digital architecture, and more support for developing countries. Michel also said the EU would continue to back Ukraine and would not shy away from imposing more sanctions on Russia. He criticized Russia over its recently reported attacks at a Ukraine port and said they would exacerbate food shortage issues globally.
"Over 250 million people face acute food insecurity worldwide and by deliberately attacking Ukraine's port, the Kremlin is depriving them of the food they desperately need. It's frankly scandalous that Russia, after having initiated the Black Sea Grain initiative, is blocking and attacking Ukrainian sea ports. This must stop… ships with grain need to have access to the Black Sea." On a question about increasing reliance on Russian oil, the European Council president said the war exposed the EU's dependence on Russian supplies, which member countries have since tried to reduce.
"The war has shown dependency on Russian fossil fuels and immediately we took a decision to remove those dependencies. We made huge progress in a few months. First by investing rapidly in renewable energy and secondly diversifying our sources of supply.
We will work a lot in the months to come to speed up this process," he said. He also said the EU has "not hesitated to decide on some sanctions against Russian fossil fuel to make it very clear that territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine is fundamental in our (EU's) eyes". He added that the EU could play a major role in bridging the gap between the West and the Global South.
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