Ireland says to cut oil over Ukraine

… in our view, we need to cut off that financing of war.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney on wanting the E.U. to consider heavier sanctions on Russia.

• Coveney went on to say, “We know that that’s very difficult for some member states and we have to keep a united position across the EU … the European Union is spending hundreds of millions of euros on importing oil from Russia. That is certainly contributing to financing this war.”
• Coveney made these comments at a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers on Monday.
• Why It Matters: These comments come alongside rising reports of heightened Russian aggression in southeast Ukraine AND reports of a new commander of Russian forces in Ukraine — who has a reputation as a war criminal, previously targeting civilians with what’s described as a “‘scorched-earth’ strategy.“
  

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