UK imports no fuel from Russia for 1st time ever

By Karim El-Bar

LONDON (AA) – The UK imported no fuel from Russia in June for the first time on record, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Wednesday.

The UK’s overall import of goods from Russia also dropped to £33 million ($39 million) in June, the lowest since ONS records began in January 1997.

Britain, which is among a raft of countries that have sanctioned Moscow for the Ukraine war, has vowed to phase out imports of Russian oil by the end of the year.

Earlier in the day, Defense Minister James Heappey warned it would be “catastrophic” to re-establish relations with Russia, which he said was “arguably the most straightforward solution to the cost-of-living crisis.”

Doing so would impact Britain’s security within the space of just a few years, he said.

“Every single thing that I have seen in the last six months tells me that that would be catastrophic for security in the Euro-Atlantic,” Heappey said.

“Not on some 10 or 15 or 20-year horizon, but within just a few years, we would find ourselves in a situation where an emboldened Russia was causing cost-of-living challenges that are 100 times worse than what we’re seeing right now. Because they might seek to expand their ambitions beyond Ukraine and into NATO territory in the Baltic, for example,” he warned.