Klaus Ernst, head of the energy and climate committee in the German federal parliament Bundestag, called for “the lifting of energy sanctions against Russia, since this option of sanctions harms German citizens.”

In a TV interview, he explained that “the federal government must be aware that cutting off energy supplies will not help stop the advance of the Russian army in the short term and will not cause serious harm to its citizens and companies,” he added. “We don’t need a policy of symbolic sanctions that harm our workers, retirees and families.”

Ernst believed: “It is unacceptable for the federal government to spin a cycle of anti-Russian energy sanctions for months, and then today express its surprise at the possibility that Russia, for its part, will cut its supplies.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said: “The German economy and German companies are painfully enduring the consequences of the sanctions imposed against Russia, but Berlin is ready to pay for solidarity with Ukraine.”