Ukraine has called on oil companies to stop trading with Russia and its partners in a bid to step up pressure against the invading country amid the ongoing war.
"Russian oil smells with Ukrainian blood today. Buying it is financing Russian war crimes," Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said as he addressed the international media on Sunday, March 6.
"You can't buy a little bit of it and be a little bit complacent with those war crimes," he added.
Kuleba stressed the need to step up pressure on Russia and force them to stop the war by stopping oil trade with the country.
This was among the matters raised by Ukraine during a foreign affairs council meeting with the European Union aside from the closing European ports for Russian ships and closing access of Russia to cryptocurrency.
“I call on oil companies to stop trade and cooperation with Russia and Russian partners. Stop investments. Every dollar or Euro earned from business with Russia today is soak in the blood of Ukrainian men and women and children," Kuleba said.
On Saturday, March 5, Kuleba called out multinational oil company Shell on Twitter for "discreetly" buying Russian oil on Friday, March 4.
"Doesn’t Russian oil smell Ukrainian blood for you?" Kuleba asked Shell and went on to encourage other multinational companies to "cut all business ties with Russia."
I am told that Shell discretely bought some Russian oil yesterday. One question to @Shell: doesn’t Russian oil smell Ukrainian blood for you? I call on all conscious people around the globe to demand multinational companies to cut all business ties with Russia.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 5, 2022
In a statement, Shell justified its decision to purchase a cargo of Russian crude oil "to avoid disruptions to market supply."
"We didn't take this decision lightly and we understand the strength of feeling around it," the oil company said.
Read Shell's statement. pic.twitter.com/6mN7KVTiGc
— Shell (@Shell) March 5, 2022
"We will continue to choose alternative to Russian oil wherever possible, but this cannot happen overnight because of how significant Russia is to global supply," it added.
Shell also committed all profits from the Russian oil they purchased to aid partners and humanitarian agencies for the people of Ukraine.