London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 11, 2025

Ukraine conflict: Save energy and annoy Putin, Germans told

Ukraine conflict: Save energy and annoy Putin, Germans told

German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck has called on the public to cut energy use and stop using cars to help wean their country off Russian oil and gas.

"If you can take the train or bike over Easter, that's good too: it's easy on the wallet and annoys Putin," said Mr Habeck, who is also economics minister and co-leader of the Greens.

Germany has resisted European calls for a ban on Russian energy.

Ukraine's president has criticised the stance of both Germany and Hungary.

"We need to talk together with these countries on how it's possible for there to be different attitudes to this issue - the oil embargo within the European Union," Volodymyr Zelensky told the BBC.

He has argued that Russia does not need to take peace talks seriously because of the billions it receives from oil exports. Some of Ukraine's friends and partners now understood it was an issue of survival for Ukraine, he said.

Although German imports have fallen this year, it still gets a quarter of its oil and 40% of its gas from Russia. It has already halted the opening of a big Russian gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2, in response to the war.

Earlier this week, German economic institutes warned that immediately halting Russian imports would spark a sharp recession in Europe's biggest economy by 2023.

Amid EU pressure to ban Russian oil, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has indicated that Germany could do so by the end of this year. However, some members of his coalition from the Greens and business-friendly FDP have accused him of failing to show leadership.

The head of parliament's defence committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, who was part of a German delegation visiting Kyiv this week, said Germany's old, rigid world view had collapsed.

"Now is the time to lead and by doing so move forward together with our coalition," she added.

'Paying the price with lives'


Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has appealed to Berlin to make a quick decision on sending further heavy weapons. "Germany plays a leading role in Europe and we are counting on this leadership," he told German TV.

"We are paying the price with people's lives," he said, adding that if Germany had changed its approach earlier then war could have been prevented.

Mr Scholz's coalition partners are also pushing for Germany to send further heavy weapons to Ukraine. However, the economics minister said the German military had already delivered what it could without affecting its own operational capability.

German manufacturer Rheinmetall has offered to send Leopard 1 battle tanks, but Mr Habeck said they had to be refurbished and that could take months.

In his interview with the Funke news group, the Greens minister said every German could make a dent in their reliance on Russia by cutting their energy consumption by 10%.

Mr Habeck said lowering the temperature was perhaps not quite as comfortable but nobody would freeze.

Bosses should also consider offering staff the chance to work from home, as they did during the Covid-19 pandemic, for one or two days a week.

More than 330,000 refugees from Ukraine have registered in Germany since the start of the war, although the true figure is unclear.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Trinidad Leader Applauds U.S. Naval Strike and Advocates Forceful Action Against Traffickers
Kim Jong Un Oversees Final Test of New High-Thrust Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid
Charlie Sheen says his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in to the police: 'The greatest betrayal possible'
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
Pig Heads Left Outside Multiple Paris Mosques in Outrage-Inducing Acts
Nvidia’s ‘Wow’ Factor Is Fading. The AI chip giant used to beat Wall Street expectations for earnings by a substantial margin. That trajectory is coming down to earth.
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
On the Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s Death: Prince Harry Returns to Britain
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Murdoch Family Finalises $3.3 Billion Succession Pact, Ensuring Eldest Son’s Leadership
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
×