About 100 Ukrainians joined forces with the "Rise for Climate" environmental organisation at the Port of Antwerp on Saturday to denounce imports of Russian oil and gas into Belgium, Belga news agency reports.
"It’s only when these imports stop that Russia will start negotiating seriously," said Anna Melenchuk from the NGO 'Promote Ukraine', which believes that the only way to end the war in Ukraine is to stop buying oil and gas from Russia.
“Mr. Putin only takes into account energy when taking decisions about Europe. If there is no move in favour of an embargo now, when will it be done?” she added. “Yes, you’ll feel it in your pockets, but we need to dare to make sacrifices.”
Rise for Climate’s Larry Moffet said that Ukraine was a strong ally in the fight against climate change.
"We’ve been calling for years for an end to these imports and now the war gives us yet another reason to end it,” Moffet said.
According to Rise for Climate, rebuilding Ukrainian cities destroyed by the Russian army will cause enormous quantities of carbon dioxide to be released into the atmosphere.
“When the war ends, there will be an ecological disaster,” Moffet said. “Rebuilding Aleppo (destroyed during the war in Syria) could produce up to 22 million tonnes of CO2. It will be the same for Mariupol."
